Simple Words
by AnonymousPhilosophy
Summary: First Fanfic. A new stallion moves into town who may be even shyer than Fluttershy. What is his talent and what is his story?
1. Prologue

**Simple, Beautiful Words**

Prologue

It was an average day for Fluttershy. She was taking her daily stroll through the woods near her quiet forest cottage. The yellow mare took this walk daily for two reasons. One reason was just to enjoy the beautiful day given to all the ponies of Equestria by Celestia, the other reason being to look for any wayward animals in need of her assistance.

_It's almost as if I'm a nurse making my rounds,_ she thought. She chuckled at her comparison, knowing that she would faint at the sight of injured ponies in a hospital.

So far her leisurely walk had been uneventful. The only thing that happened worth noting was her feeding a passing squirrel. Brushing her flowing pink mane put of the way of her turquoise eyes, Fluttershy sighed contently. Knowing her friends, she knew that quiet, peaceful moments like these were hard to come by. Usually, her days were filled with dragon hunting, fillysitting, or saving Equestria from one dark entity or another.

Fluttershy enjoyed her life very much, despite these often times dangerous adventures. They left fond memories and provided her and her friends with important lessons of friendship.

Just as Fluttershy was getting used to the peace, a young deer timidly stepped onto the path in front of her.

"Why hello there little fawn," Fluttershy said in her usual gentle, soothing voice. Despite her warm greeting, the fawn backed away.

"Oh don't worry little one, I won't hurt you. I just want to be friends," the mare said in hopes of drawing out the fawn. Noticing her gentle words, the fawn slowly came within leg-reach of Fluttershy.

"That's a good little fawn. Would you like to come to my cottage? I have lots of tasty snacks for all kinds of animals. You can make all kinds of new friends."

Suddenly, the fawn's head shot to the left. Seeing some unknown danger the fawn ran off, leaving Fluttershy alone on the trail. With a shrill squeal Fluttershy dove into the nearest bush and hid. Several silent minutes passed.

"U-um excuse me, but is, um, anypony out there," questioned Fluttershy, fear evident in her voice.

No response came so the mare rose from the bushes and shook herself free from any lingering debris in her fur.

_How odd. Somepony or something scared away that cute fawn. What could it have been? Not that I need to know, as long as it's far away from here._

Lost in thought, Fluttershy didn't notice that she had left the path and was now at the edge of a large empty field. Well, almost empty. The expanse of grass was empty except for the colt sitting in the middle of it.

Fluttershy looked up and let out a squeak of surprise and dove into another bush. The colt apparently hadn't heard her. He just continued to stare into space.

_Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! What I do, _thought Fluttershy as she peeked out from inside the bush.

She had never seen the colt before. He had a light gray coat and a stark white mane and tail while his eyes were dark blue. Most curious about him was his cutie mark. It was a book with an old pen on overlapping it.

_I guess his talent is writing, _the nervous mare thought, _M-maybe I should say h-hello._

Timidly, Fluttershy emerged from her hiding spot and headed towards the mysterious colt. As she approached, the mare stepped on a twig witch snapped quite loudly. Fluttershy let out her instinctual squeak in surprise.

The colt turned his head at the two sudden noises and caught sight of the shy mare. Without a word the colt stood up and ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

That just left a confused Fluttershy standing alone in the field.

**That's my first fanfic, hoped you enjoyed it. Sorry if my grammar was off, I'm new to this. Any reviews or feedback is much appreciated. On a last note- HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!**


	2. The New Guy

**Simple Words**

The New Guy

"So Twilight, where're we going? Huh, huh," asked a certain pink earth pony as she bounced next to her violet friend.

"For the hundredth time Pinkie, we're running errands," replied Twilight.

"Okie dokie lokie," said Pinkie Pie, "Oh Twilight, how about a party later?"

Twilight sighed. "I love your parties Pinkie but we can't party every day."

"But what if there's a new pony in town or if it's somepony's birthday," Pinkie asked.

"Well, I guess a party would be justified if it's a special occasion," responded Twilight.

The pin party pony started jumping up and down in glee. "Yippee! I know for sure we'll find _some_ reason to celebrate today. Maybe we'll meet a new pony or maybe you'll learn a new spell or maybe Granny Smith will get a hip replacement or _maybe_-"

"-Okay, okay. I get it. I just need to get some more quills and ink and then you can look for a reason to celebrate," Twilight said, cutting off a Pinkie Pie rant that could have gone Celestia-knows how long.

"Who knows maybe I'll find a reason to party while I'm helping you."

"Sorry to burst your bubble Pinkie, but I seriously doubt that you'll find a reason to celebrate at the Quills and Sofas Store-oh you have got to be kidding me!" Twilight exclaimed when she saw that the store in question was closed. "Where am I going to get more supplies to write my letters to Celestia?"

"But Twilight, Princess Celestia said you didn't have to have to write to her every week. Remember? It was that day you went loco in the coco," replied confused Pinkie Pie.

"How could I forget Pinkie Pie?" the purple unicorn said. "It's just that today is the only day that I have the time to shop for the next few days. I don't want to learn something about friendship and not have anything to write to Celestia with."

"Ohhhhh. That makes perfect sense," said Pinkie Pie, satisfied with the answer.

"I'm glad you understand the reason we need to get the supplies, but the question is: How do we get them? I'm out of ideas," Twilight muttered.

Pinkie Pie put a hoof to her chin and looked around. Looking quite thoroughly, she found just what Twilight needed. "Well, we could go over to that book and writing supplies store over there."

Twilight's head immediately shot up. "There's a new book store in town?"

Pinkie Pie lifted her hoof and pointed to a small, one-story building at the edge of Ponyville. Hanging from a pole above the door was a sign that said: Book and Writing Supply Shop.

Twilight immediately began trotting towards the new store. "Come on Pinkie, let's go shopping!"

Pinkie began bouncing after her. "Silly filly. Wait for me!"

Twilight slowly opened the wooden door and steeped into the store. To the egghead it was paradise. The store was small but it was crammed with shelves filled with books. On the one side of the store were quills, pens, pencils, paper, and parchment; anything anypony needed to write anything.

"Wow! Look at all these books Twilight. There's probably the same amount of books in the library," gasped Pinkie Pie. Twilight had to admit, whoever ran this store had a love of literature.

"Um, excuse me ladies, but would like any help finding something?" the store owner said from behind the checkout counter. He was a gray earth pony with a white mane and blue eyes.

Pinkie Pie caught sight of him and gasped. She then proceeded to run out of the store faster than ponily possible.

"If don't you mind my asking, is she okay?" asked the gray pony, slightly worried.

Twilight chuckled, knowing exactly what Pinkie was planning. "Don't worry about her, she's a bit strange but she's a lot of fun."

"Well if you say so. Oh, terribly sorry, do you need help finding anything?" he said, remembering his first question.

"Well, I'd appreciate if you show me around the store," responded Twilight. "You've got quite a collection.

"T-thank you. I spent most of my money on these books. I'm glad somepony else appreciates books too," the colt replied.

The young store owner then showed Twilight the store. She was amazed at how many different books he sold. There were classics, fictions, essays, journals, research papers, and any other kind of book you could imagine. Twilight was impressed. The store did in fact rival the library with its vast collection.

_This place is great. Now I don't have to keep ordering books from Canterlot,_ she thought.

After the tour was over, the stallion left Twilight to her shopping. "Excuse me sir," she called after him, "I never caught your name."

The stallion turned around and replied, "Oh um… it's Notes. What yours?"

"I'm Twilight Sparkle it's a pleasure to meet you," said the purple unicorn.

"It's nice to meet you too. So, um, when you're finished shopping I'll ring you up at the counter," Notes said as he walked off to his original post.

_Well now… Where to begin?_ thought Twilight. There were literally dozens of shelves and hundreds of books to choose from. She still had to get her writing supplies too. _I should've brought my saddlebag. Well, I can't help that now._

After browsing the shelves for several minutes Twilight came across a curious looking shelf. It was right next to the door and, unlike the other shelves, was nowhere near full. The books looked like they were homemade too. After a close examination of the book she noticed the author. It was…. Notes! All the books on the shelf were written by Notes. What was so surprising was that the works on the shelf ranged from short stories to nonfiction writings to poetry.

"Notes! Could you come over for a moment?" Twilight called.

Notes walked over. "I-is something the matter Ms. Sparkle?"

"Nothing's wrong, I just want to know more about these books you wrote. And please, call me Twilight," explained Twilight. She was genuinely curious about the stallion's writings.

"O-okay, Twilight. Those are just some books I've written. None of them have been good enough to be published. They're just rewrites that I made to sell locally," replied Notes. "They're not all that good, b-but I just put them out in case somepony wants to give it them look."

"Wow Notes. How can you write all of these? These books are all so different," Twilight said with awe in her voice. She had never seen an author with such diversity in their works.

"W-well, I hope I don't come across as r-rude but my special talent is research and writing. I-I kind of thought my cutie mark showed th-that," said the young writer. "They're not all that good anyways. They're more of a hobby."

Twilight saw that Notes's cutie mark was a blue book with a ball point pen laid diagonally across it. The mare face hoofed. _How could I have not noticed that?_

"T-Twilight, if you don't mind my asking, what does your cutie mark mean?"

Twilight looked to her flank at her own cuties mark. It was a six pointed magenta star with five smaller white stars around it. "Oh, my special talent happens to be magic. I know a few more spells than the average unicorn but it's nothing much."

"Y-you know, sometimes I wish I had magic. It would make writing a lot easier, not having to write with my mouth, you know," Notes joked.

Twilight chuckled at the joke. Secretly, she felt almost sorry for the earth pony. _It must have taken ages for him to write and rewrite all these books. _Deciding to show some appreciation for his efforts, she picked out a collection of short stories called: A Delamare Summer.

After gathering all her books together, Twilight turned to Notes. "I'm ready to purchase these books."

"C-certainly, just follow me to the counter." Notes walked back to the counter and examined the books Twilight wished to purchase. She had picked out 11 books plus her writing supplies. "Are you sure you have enough to read?"

Twilight giggled at his remark. "Don't worry. I love reading. In fact, I live in the town library. So anyways, how much do I owe you?"

Notes checked through the books. "W-well, we'll see." Then Notes saw that in Twilight's pile of books was a copy of A Delamare Summer. "That'll be 74 bits, no charge for A Delamare Summer."

"That's awfully kind of you but I can't just accept a free book that you worked so hard to write," protested Twilight.

Notes calmly raised his hoof and waved away her protests. "Please, I insist. Consider it a gift for being my first customer."

Twilight decided to give in. "Fine. Here you go, 74 bits. It was a pleasure to meet you Notes."

"T-thanks. It was nice to meet you too." Notes then noticed that Twilight had no saddlebag to carry all of her purchases. "Would you like some help bringing those books home? I couldn't help but notice you don't have a saddlebag."

"Well. Aren't you a gentlecolt?" said the unicorn playfully.

Notes blushed bright red. "O-oh, I'm sorry. Was I being too presumptuous?"

His behavior amused Twilight. "Silly colt, I was just joking I'd be grateful for the help."

"Well then, I'll go get two saddlebags." With that, Notes went to somewhere behind the counter to retrieve the saddlebags.

_This working out perfectly,_ thought Twilight. _Pinkie should be finishing setting up._

End Chapter

**Well, there it is chapter 2. I tried to make it longer than the prologue and future chapters will probably be at least this long. I apologize for the wait; I'm new to setting aside time to work on this. As always, reviews are welcome. Thank you for reading.**


	3. Not a Party Pony

**Simple Words**

Not a Party Pony

Notes and Twilight were walking down Mane Street, en route to the library. It was just the average peaceful day in Ponyville. The pegasi had made the day extremely beautiful, the sun was shining and the few clouds in the sky floated lazily on the breeze. The weather cast a feeling of relaxation and peacefulness. Notes and Twilight both wore leather saddlebags filled with the mare's books and supplies.

"So, Notes, where did you live before moving here?" asked Twilight.

Notes, distracted by the nice weather, snapped back to attention. "Um, well, before I came to Ponyville, I was studying in Canterlot, to get my degree in Literature."

"Oh! You're from Canterlot? So am I! I moved here about a year and a half ago," replied an excited Twilight.

"I-I'm actually not from Canterlot. I, um, just went there for college," Notes corrected.

Twilight calmed down and said, "Oh, well sorry about that misunderstanding. Where are you from originally?"

"Um, I'm from Delamare. It's a really small state in Equestria. Most ponies haven't heard of it," explained Notes, looking a little downcast at his latter statement.

"I've heard of Delamare. Its major agricultural products are corn and soybeans; it gets lots of tourism for its beaches, and the majority of its work force is made up of scientists and engineers," Twilight responded.

Notes was surprised. "Y-you actually know about Delamare? I have to say that's a first."

"I've studied practically everything. I am Princess Celestia's personal student. Equestrian geography comes easy to me."

"You know Princess Celestia? And you're her personal student?" gasped Notes. His eyes darted from side to side. "Should I, um, bow?" he whispered.

Twilight began to laugh. "No Notes, you don't have to bow. Don't be silly! I'm not royalty!"

Notes blushed bright red. _That was stupid of me. Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ he thought. "S-sorry. That was foolish of me."

"Hehe. That's okay. I'm sorry for laughing," replied Twilight.

biThe two continued to walk in silence for a few minutes. Notes decided to break the silence. "Um, Twilight? I hope it's not rude of me to ask, but why did you buy all of those books. From what you said earlier, you live in a library."

Twilight thought about it for a few seconds before answering. "I guess I just love books. It's true I have plenty to read in the library, but I suppose I get more books so that I never run out of things to read. That and so the citizens of Ponyville have a greater selection to choose from."

"That's interesting. You seem to really love literature. And what a beautiful love it is," said Notes with a distant look in his eyes.

"Um… Notes? Are you okay? You're going all poetic on me," said Twilight with some concern in her voice.

The gray stallion shook his head and snapped back to the present. It would do him no good to recall that part of his past. "Oh, sorry. I'm fine, really. I was just thinking that's all. So, how far are we from the library?" Notes said, hoping to change the subject.

Notes could tell that Twilight knew something was bothering him, but she didn't push him. "Actually we're here," Twilight announced as the library came into view.

_Amazing,_ thought Notes. The library was incredibly interesting. It was made from a hollowed out tree with several holes in the side where glass had been put to form windows. The building's lopsided, asymmetrical appearance seemed to show some kind of beauty in its unique design.

"You live here? It's amazing! I've got to check out your book selection!" exclaimed Notes excitedly. Twilight gave him a funny look because of his outburst. "Oh, um, I-I'm sorry about that. I got a little excited, sorry."

Twilight smiled at his apology. "It's fine Noes. I've just never seen you get excited about something. I assumed you were the mellow type."

"I g-guess you could say that. I'm pretty quiet most of the time, but I get excited whenever books are involved. I guess you could say they're my p-passion."

"Well, I won't keep you waiting. If you'd be kind enough to help me bring my books inside, you can be on your way or take a look around," said Twilight as she walked to the door.

"Um, okay. Here, let me get the door please," Notes said, holding the door for Twilight.

At first, Notes was confused. When he entered the library he noticed that all the lights were off and that the windows were all blocked by curtains. "Um, Twilight? Maybe we should let a little light in, if that's okay with you, I mean."

The lights came on. Notes was paralyzed in fear. Half of the town seemed to be crammed into this one building, all of them having a smile on their face.

"SURPRISE!"

Fluttershy's POV

Just like all the ponies in the library, Fluttershy had been roped into Pinkie Pie's latest party plan. All that Fluttershy had been able to gather was that there was a new pony in town and that Twilight was going to find a way to bring them to the library.

_I hope this new pony is kind,_ thought Fluttershy as she waited for Twilight to arrive with the new pony.

"Okay everypony, listen up!" shouted Pinkie Pie, quieting the chatter that had begun to start up. "Everypony has got to be quiet okay? Otherwise it won't be a surprise party and surprise parties are the _best_ parties, and I want this to be the biggest bestest party ever!"

Suddenly, voices were heard outside. Pinkie silently ordered to the lights to be turned off and the curtains drawn. The door opened and two silhouettes could be seen entering.

" Um, Twilight? Maybe we should let a little light in, if that's okay with you, I mean," Fluttershy heard a voice say. It sounded like a stallion's but it was too quiet to know for sure.

At that moment, the lights flicked on. Fluttershy took a large breath and enthusiastically, albeit quietly said, "Surprise!"

It was then that Fluttershy hot a good look at the pony. She gasped. It was the same pony that she had seen in the woods the other day.

Notes's POV

He just stood there staring back at all the smiling ponies. Notes was in shock. Regaining his thoughts he turned to Twilight. "Oh, it looks like I'm interrupting something. I-I'll just be going now," said Notes, trying to find a way out of the crowded tree house.

It was then that Pinkie Pie decided to make her appearance. "Don't go silly! This is your welcome to Ponyville party!"

Notes sighed. _That's exactly what I was worried about,_ he thought.

Oblivious to his lack of enthusiasm, Pinkie shouted, "Okie dokie everypony lets partaaaay!"

Notes was extremely nervous. He had never been very social, being the quiet, shy pony that he is. Taking a gulp he moved to mingle with the other ponies. _Not exactly my idea of a good time, but I guess I need to meet some new ponies._

He moved to the snack table hoping that food would calm him down. Notes had just started eating a cupcake when Pinkie burst out from behind the table. In the process of swallowing his food, Notes began to choke.

"Hi there! I'm Pinky Pie, but you can just call me Pinkie. I'm the pony who planned this _whole _party. I throw the best parties, ask anypony. So how do you like your party? Huh, huh, huh?" Notes's only reply was gagging and gasping for air. "Oh that means a lot! You love it so much that you're speechless!"

Pinkie gave Notes a friendly slap on the back which managed to dislodge the cupcake from his throat. Able to breathe again, Notes just watched as Pinkie bounced off to enjoy the party. _She's a mystery_, he thought.

"I see you met Pinkie Pie," said a white unicorn as she walked up beside Notes.

Notes, still breathing heavily, replied, "I sure have. Is she always that crazy?"

The unicorn laughed. "I suppose she is a bit abnormal, but she organizes simply the most wonderful parties."

"Oh dear, I've forgotten my manners. H-hello I'm Notes," he said to the beautiful unicorn.

"It's wonderful to meet you Notes. I am Rarity, I own the Carousel Boutique. Maybe you should stop bye sometime. Your mane needs a trim immediately," she said playfully.

Note's eyes widened. "You're _the _Ms. Rarity? Your designs were the talk of the town when I was studying in Canterlot."

"Darling, you flatter me. My designs are growing in popularity but I'd hardly say that they're conversation worthy."

"Well, um, I don't much about these things. I'm an author myself. I run the bookstore in town."

"You're quiet soft-spoken dear you remind me of a friend of mine. She's pretty shy herself. Would you like to meet her?" asked Rarity.

"I-I don't think that's such a good idea. I'm n-not very social. Meeting new ponies isn't exactly my skill."

"Nonsense darling. I'm sure you two will get along just fine. Here, we'll go find her," the white unicorn said, leading Notes in an attempt to find the mysterious mare.

While Rarity searched, Notes took the opportunity to look around. Everywhere, ponies were dancing, eating, or playing one party game or another. He briefly caught a glance of Pinkie Pie playing pin the tail on the pony. It amazed him how lively a quiet place like a library could get with enough ponies.

"Oh Notes dear, I've found her!" called Rarity. Notes began to slowly walk to her and her unknown friend, still worried about socializing.

As Notes approached he got a good look Rarity's friend. She was a yellow pegasus with turquois eyes and pink mane and tail. He immediately recognized her from the woods. It was clear that she also recognized him too. This was going to be awkward.

**They said it couldn't be done, but I did it. I found the time to write the third chapter. I sincerely apologize for the long wait. We'll just say fanfic writing and exam studying don't mix. In the future I'll try to post a chapter a week. Any reviews or thoughts on the story are always appreciated. Until next time.**


	4. Awkward Night Life

**Simple Words**

Awkward Night Life

Fluttershy's POV

For a while, the two ponies just stood there staring at each other. Fluttershy was trying to keep herself from squeaking in surprise from seeing the stallion again. But she did have to admit that she had been curious about the strange earth pony ever since she had seen him in the field.

Rarity, who must've noticed the awkward silence, decided to excuse herself and give the two shy ponies some privacy. "I'll just leave you two to get acquainted." The unicorn then walked away to continue mingling.

It was the gray stallion that decided to break the silence. "Um, hi, I'm Notes," he mumbled, forcing a nervous smile.

"Um, excuse me, but I didn't quite hear that," said Fluttershy.

Clearing his throat, the stallion repeated, "H-hello, I'm Notes."

"Oh, um, nice to meet you, I'm Fluttershy," said Fluttershy quietly.

"W-well, it's nice to meet you too Fluttershy," replied Notes trying to sound polite.

"Um, please excuse me for asking, but didn't I see you in the woods the other day?" asked Fluttershy.

Notes began to explain nervously, "Y-yeah. I-I'm really sorry if I was trespassing. I didn't know that the clearing belonged to you. I'm so sorry."

Despite his anxiety, Fluttershy started to giggle. "Don't worry, I'm not angry. The clearing wasn't even mine. I was just curious about you. Not many ponies go into woods."

"That's kind of why I thought the clearing belonged to you, not many ponies just go for a walk."

"A-actually, I'm sort of a veterinarian. I go around the forest looking for sick or hurt animals and nurse them back to health."

Notes developed a surprised look on his face. "Wow, that's r-really kind of you."

Fluttershy blushed at his praise. "Oh, it's really nothing; I have a way with animals. That's my talent actually," she responded. "So, um, what do you do?"

"I own a bookstore at the edge of town. My talent is reading and writing, b-but until any of my books are published, I have to work the store."

The yellow pegasus was curious about Notes's writings. "S-so you're an author? What kind of things do you right about?"

Notes seemed to brighten up while talking about books. "I write about almost everything. I've written short stories, essays, nonfiction, poems, basically a lot of stuff."

"T-that's a lot of topics. Don't you ever feel overwhelmed?" asked Fluttershy.

"W-well, sure it's a bit stressful, but I'm doing something I love," explained Notes. "Besides, I don't have any deadlines to meet, since nopony wants to publish my work." His last remark left him looking a bit downcast.

Seeing that he was upset, Fluttershy decided to change the subject. "Um, would you like to meet my friends? I'm sure they'd love to meet you."

"O-oh, um, I'm not so sure that's such a good idea. I'm not very good with meeting new ponies," said Notes, almost repeating exactly what he had said to Rarity earlier. "I'm a bit shy."

Fluttershy simply smiled at him. "Don't worry. They're oh so nice. I'm sure they'll be glad to meet you."

Notes just sighed and said nervously, "O-okay, if you say so."

As Fluttershy led the gray stallion through the crowded tree house, she was thinking. _What an odd pony. He seems shy, but he lights up whenever he talks about books. It's almost like me and my animals._

Notes's POV

Notes followed Fluttershy through the library looking for her friends. He was beginning to feel more and more nervous. Being a mare, it was most likely that Fluttershy's friends would all be mares, and to be honest, Notes wasn't very good at talking to mares.

Notes supposed somepony could argue that he had been able to speak to Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy, but they seemed different to him. Twilight was an avid book enthusiast, so it was only natural that she and notes would get along. Rarity had been openly polite and courteous to Notes, making her a bit easier to talk to. Last but not least, Fluttershy seemed to be somewhat of a kindred spirit. She was shy, but had something inside of her that wanted to break free, that and her ability to open up around friends.

_Don't think about your friends right now, _he mentally told himself. _There's no need to dwell on regrets. Just enjoy the party. _With that in mind, he continued to follow Fluttershy.

"Um, here I found them," he heard Fluttershy say quietly. Walking in the direction of her voice, Notes came up next to Fluttershy to meet her friends.

As he had guessed, all of Fluttershy's friends were mares. But the particular mares were a surprise to Notes. Of the five of them, he already knew three. Apparently, Fluttershy wasn't just friends with Rarity; she was also friends with Twilight and Pinkie Pie. The other mares were unknown to Notes.

One was an orange earth pony with a blonde, pony-tailed mane, green eyes, and cowboy hat. Judging by her cutie mark, three apples, Notes guessed that she must be involved with the apple orchard that he had seen moving into town.

The other pony was a pegasus. Her coat was a light blue while her mane and tail were the colors of the rainbow. The mare also had eyes the color of a deep rose. Her cutie mark was a cloud with a rainbow colored lightning bolt protruding from it. Based on her build and cutie mark, Notes thought she was a weather mare, athlete, or both.

"Um, hello girls. This is Notes. He's new in Ponyville and I thought you all might like to meet him," said Fluttershy as she introduced Notes to the group.

"Well duh, he's new!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, "That's why I threw this party for him remember?"

"Pinkie, darling, I'm sure she knew that the party was for him. Fluttershy was simply politely introducing Notes," answered Rarity.

"Well Notes, I think you already know Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie," said Fluttershy. "These are my other friends: Applejack and Rainbow Dash."

The orange pony walked up to him. "Howdy do, Notes? Ah'm Applejack! Ah run Sweet Apple Acres, the best place to git any thang apple-related." She extended her hoof for a friendly, introductory hoof shake.

Notes obliged and shook her hoof. "It's, um, very nice to meet you Applejack," he said.

"Why thank you kindly sugar cube," responded Applejack.

After Applejack had introduced herself, the blue pegasus approached Notes. "Hi there. The name's Rainbow Dash. I'm the fastest flier in all of Equestria and the best weather mare in Cloudsdale," Rainbow Dash said confidently.

"I-it's a pleasure to meet you Rainbow Dash," Notes sheepishly replied. He was a bit intimidated by Rainbow Dash's boastful introduction.

"Yeah, yeah. So anyways who are you? What do you do? Are you an athlete? If you are, I challenge you to a race," the cyan pegasus said quickly.

"Oh, um, well, I'm not much of an athlete. I-I actually write and sell b-books," Notes stuttered. Notes was no athlete, the idea of participating in a competition with this mare was out of the question.

"Pfft. Books, really? Books are so boring! How do you stand being surrounded by them all day, let alone write them?" Rainbow Dash asked incredulously.

"I like books. They're how we learn. They take us on adventures outside the confines of our daily lives. They're ways to spread ideas," Notes said, somewhat defensively.

"If you say so. You're a lot like Twilight, you spend too much time with books," replied Rainbow Dash with a smile.

Twilight spoke up. "What do you mean 'spends too much time with books'? I always make time for my friends."

Rainbow Dash sighed. "Geez, Twilight. You gotta learn to take a joke."

And that's how the evening progressed. The seven ponies talked, ate, laughed, and generally partied. Notes didn't speak much, but he didn't mind, he was quiet by nature. He mainly listened to what the other's said and got to learn about the six mares.

As the party wore on, Notes began to grow tired. He knew he had to close up shop and get to bed so that he could open the shop on time.

As soon as Rarity was done talking about her new fashion line, Notes addressed the group. "I-it's been fun ladies, but I have to turn in. thanks for organizing and coming to the party. It was very kind of you."

Pinkie Pie Frowned at hearing this. "Awww! You're leaving already?"

"I'm sorry. I have to close up shop and get up early tomorrow to open it on time," Notes explained.

"Aw, come on Notes. Stay a bit longer. Have a drink or two," Rainbow Dash said. As the party had stretched into the night, alcohol had been brought out for the older ponies.

"No thank you. I don't drink," Notes said quickly.

This seemed to surprise Rainbow Dash. "Why not?"

"I have my reasons," Notes said with a dark expression on his face and a distant look in his eyes. "Sorry, but I have to go. Thanks again for the party." Without another word he left.

Notes walked into the bookstore. It had been about 10 minutes since he had left the party.

_I hope they didn't think I was being rude, _he thought. _I just can't handle those memories in public._

Notes shook his head, trying to clear his head of unwanted thoughts. He decided to distract himself.

"Flame? Where are you boy?" he called, looking for his pet.

An old, orange furred cat slowly hobbled from out of the shadows. His fur was dulling as were his green eyes. Behind him, Notes noticed the full food bowl. The sight almost brought tears to his eyes.

"Come on Flame, you have to keep eating. It's the only way you'll stay healthy," Notes begged. The young writer led the old cat to the food bowl. "Now eat."

Notes watched as Flame proceeded to eat only half of the bowl's contents. Notes sighed. _I guess that's all he's going to eat tonight._

As much as Notes didn't want to admit it, he knew Flame's time was coming. It wasn't easy for him to accept, Notes had raised Flame from when he was a kitten. For the past several years, Flame had been Notes's only friend. To admit that Flame's life was coming to a close was unthinkable to Notes.

"Sleep easy boy," he said before walking away to prepare his own bed.

From a closet behind the store counter, Notes retrieved a pillow and a blanket. He made himself comfortable on the floor and took out his journal. His entry read:

_May 16, 1386 __**A**__fter __**D**__iscord_

_Today was pretty hectic. Had my first customer today, a unicorn by the name of Twilight Sparkle. She tricked me into going into a surprise welcome party for me. Also met her friends Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy, They all seem nice. Especially Fluttershy. She's the same pegasus I saw in the fields. I guess I should admit to I have a slight crush on her. It could be a phase or a passing thing. Besides, what mare would take a liking to socially-awkward me? Well I guess only time will tell._

_-Notes_

**And there it is: Chapter 4. Apologies once more for such a late update. I'm going to attempt (keyword: attempt) to put myself on the Jack London regime, by writing 1000 words a day. If that fails, expect weekly updates. Bye the way, the After Discord date thing was not my idea, I got it from another fanfic but I can't remember. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. As always, reviews are most appreciated.**


	5. Serenity

**Simple Words**

Serenity

It was morning. The rays of the sun were peeking through the blinds, illuminating the inside of Notes's eyelids. With a groan Notes rose from his makeshift bed. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he looked around. It was the same bookstore he had fallen asleep in the night before, a building that was filled with book shelves. Now fully awake, Notes gathered his pillow and blanket and stored them away in a closet.

As he went about tidying up his store/living space Notes's stomach started rumbling. Deciding to remedy the problem, Notes made his way to another closet that acted as his pantry.

Taking a thorough look through his food supplies, Notes decided on a light breakfast of an apple and a few slices of bread. While he ate, Notes spared a glance at Flame.

The ginger tom cat was currently asleep in his tiny bed in the small alcove behind the store counter. Next to the bed was an empty food bowl. Notes sighed, he was relieved. Flame didn't eat as much as he used to, but he was still eating.

Prepared to start the day, Notes made his way to the front of the store and flipped the sign that read 'CLOSED' to 'OPEN'. Having changed the sign, Notes returned to the counter and waited for any potential customers to walk through the door. And so he waited.

Passing minutes became passing hours. Nopony had yet to even enter the store. Driven to boredom, Notes had begun to read a book that he picked from one of the shelves. A few more hours passed. Notes had finished the book and still hadn't had a single customer.

Feeling frustrated notes looked to his clock. The time was 1 o'clock. For the 3 hours he had been open, not one pony had decided to give his simple store a look. Notes felt that he needed some fresh air, fresh air and some lunch.

Finding his way to his multi-purpose storage closet, Notes reviewed the box that contained his funds. They were pitifully low. _Looks like I'm going bargain hunting, _he thought, scooping up several bits and depositing them into his worn saddlebag. Before leaving, the writer also gathered his notebook and a pencil. Lastly, Notes said goodbye to Flame, saying that he would be back in a few hours.

Trotting out of the store, Notes flipped the 'OPEN' sign to 'CLOSED' and also added a small note that informed any passerby that he was out for lunch. Once he was thoroughly ready, Notes made his way to the town square, where he would hopefully find lunch.

Notes felt like taking his time as he enjoyed the beautiful day. _It's not as if I have anywhere to be._ Arriving at the square, the gray stallion began looking at the number of food stands on the side of the street. He was surprised at the variety of foods on display. There was everything from vegetables, to fruits, to almost any kind of pastry somepony could think of.

"Howdy Notes!" somepony called out from across the road. Based on the accent, Notes had a pretty good idea who the voice belonged to.

"Good afternoon Applejack," Notes answered as he made his way to the farm pony's apple fruit stand.

"Good afternoon yerself," replied AJ. "Can I help ya find anythin'?"

"Um, as a matter of fact I'm, um looking for lunch," said the gray stallion. Taking off his saddlebag, Notes withdrew 17 bits. "H-how much can I get with this?"

Surveying his funds, Applejack gave him her answer. "Well, let's see. Ya got 17 bits, so lemme think. I can get ya 2 apples and a fritter if'n you want 'em."

"That sounds great, thank you very much," responded Notes.

Applejack took Notes's bits and retrieved two apples and an apple fritter for the stallion. Before he could pack up his food, Applejack fixed Notes with a serious look.

"Now listen here, Notes. Why did ya leave the party last night? We was worried about ya."

Notes looked to his hooves guiltily. "I-I'm sorry about last night, I wasn't trying to be rude. I don't do well around alcohol, that's all. It reminds about memories that I can't handle in public."

Applejack considered his response. Thankfully, she didn't push the writer for any more information. "Jus' remember Notes, if ya ever need ta talk, we're all friends. Okay?"

Taken aback by her offer of friendship, all Note could say was, "Oh, um, of course." Before anypony could say anything else, Notes mumbled a quick goodbye to Applejack and was on his way.

_She called me her friend, _Notes though as he wandered through the streets of Ponyville. _Nopony has called me their friend since I left Delamare._ Yet here he was, apparently friends with six mares he had met only yesterday. _It's strange, I hardly know them. But they called me "friend"._

Notes pushed the thoughts from his mind. He could think about those things later. His top priority at the moment was to find a place to eat his lunch. Thinking of where to eat, Notes decided on finding the field he had been in the other day. It would be quiet and its natural beauty might give him some inspiration of his writings. Celestia knows that he needed it.

Setting off at a light trot, Notes began the slight trek to the clearing. It was beautiful days like these that made Notes truly appreciate the woods. The forest simply possessed a special kind of natural splendor that nothing else had.

Arriving at his destination, Notes sat down and emptied his bag. Making himself comfortable, Notes began to eat his lunch. While he ate, he recorded things that he saw around him, in case something gave him a burst of inspiration. Notes loved the forest. It was so quiet and peaceful, away from the noise and stress of living in a town or city. Enjoying lunch under the shade of tree was his perfect idea of spending an afternoon.

Fluttershy's POV

Fluttershy was once again wandering the forest. She had taken care of all of the animals at her cottage and was now searching the woods for any other creature in need of assistance. There was a strange sound in the forest however. It sounded like scribbling or scratching. Puzzled, the pegasus followed the noise to its source.

Following the sound, Fluttershy had to leave the path and pick her way carefully through the undergrowth, cautious as not to disturb any animals. As the scratching noise became louder, its source came into view.

In the same field as before, Notes was sitting. Unlike their previous encounter however, he was writing. A pencil was in his mouth as he jotted down word after word into his notebook. Off to the side were two apple cores and a half-eaten apple fritter. Plastered on Notes's face was a gentle smile.

Taking a nervous gulp, Fluttershy decided to talk to the stallion. As she began trotting over to him, Notes heard her coming.

"Oh, um, good afternoon Notes," Fluttershy greeted meekly.

The young writer immediately began packing his things and smiled nervously. "I'm sorry, I was just leaving," he said, convinced he had done something wrong to attract the mare's attention.

Suppressing a giggle, Fluttershy reassured the anxious pony. "Don't say sorry. Y-you haven't done anything gone. I was, um, wondering if you wanted to talk."

Settling back down if a confused look in his face, Notes answered, "Sure, what, um, do you want talk about."

Sitting next to him, the yellow pegasus asked him what she had been wondering since last night. "If you don't mind me asking, um, w-what happened last night. I-I hope we didn't offend you or anything."

Notes adopted a thoughtful look while he contemplated his answer. "It's kind of funny," he began. "Applejack asked me the same thing earlier. I-I guess I just don't do well around alcohol, that really it. It reminds me of things I'd rather forget."

Curious Fluttershy asked, "What was it?" Seeing Notes eyes sadden at the question, Fluttershy anxiously continued, "Oh, um, I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that. It's really none of my business anyways."

Notes waved his hoof dismissively at her apology. "No, it's fine. I-I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I really don't feel like talking about. It's just, well, it's just really personal."

That left an awkward silence around the clearing. In an attempt to change the subject, Fluttershy asked about Notes's writings. His face suddenly lit up.

"Oh, these? They're poems. Nature u-usually inspires me. It's just so serene," the gray stallion explained. "I-I guess I sound pretty weird, g-going out in the woods just to write about it?"

"Oh no, not at all. Everypony has something that inspires them. M-mine is animals," responded the pegasus.

Note's POV

The two ponies spent the entire afternoon talking. They talked about their talents. They talked about their inspirations. As the sun was setting they said goodbye.

Notes was feeling happier as he trotted back home to his book shop. The chance encounter with the kind pegasus had cheered him up. It didn't sadden him as much to return to his struggling business.

**Author's Notes: Terribly sorry about the longer wait. My jack London regime was a complete failure. I'll be trying to keep to a weekly updating schedule. My thanks to BlasianAsian for pointing out my grammar mistake in the previous chapter. I would never have seen or fixed it without your criticism. In response to Pony, I know the second chapter seemed to imply that Notes and Twilight had something but that is not the case. I plan to have them become close friends. Apologies if this chapter isn't as good as others. I had serious writer's block and had to rush a bit to get this uploaded. As always, reviews are most appreciated.**


	6. Foundations

**A/N: Hello readers. I sincerely apologize for the extremely long delay. Thank you to all those patient enough to wait.**

Simple Words

Foundations

Notes's POV

The sun rose shedding light through a window onto the face of a gray earth pony. Notes had been living in Ponyville for almost a month now. He rose from his homemade bed and went through his usual morning routine of preparing breakfast and tidying up his little store. In the month since its opening, his business was doing better than when it first started. Notes had saved a few extra bits to hire an artist to make several posters to help advertise his bookstore.

Despite having improved business, Notes's number one customer was still Twilight Sparkle. Sometimes Notes wondered whether it was her goal to buy one of every book in his inventory. In return, notes usually made a weekly trip to library to see which books he should add to his order list. Notes supposed he considered Twilight a close friend.

Note still met Fluttershy occasionally in the small field in the woods. The field had become a sort of sanctuary for Notes. Whenever he was feeling down or knew that he wouldn't receive any more business on a particular day, he would travel to the clearing and blow off steam through his writings. Most days, Fluttershy would chat with him too. Whether her happening upon him was coincidence or a choice of hers, he didn't know. The writer was glad to talk to the attractive mare.

After his brief moment of reminiscing, Notes officially opened the store and waited for any customers. Knowing that it would take time for anypony to show up, Notes selected a book and began to read it behind the counter.

At 11:15 precisely, Twilight opened the door to the shop and began to browse.

"Good morning Twilight," Notes called to the mare from behind the counter.

"Good morning to you too," responded Twilight absent mindedly, her attention being on the shelves in front of her.

Seeing her look of concentration notes asked, "Anything in particular you're looking for?"

"Actually yes. Do you have anything new? I've read most of these books."

Notes chuckled quietly. "I-I'm not surprised. You've nearly read through my entire inventory. B-but there are some new arrivals in the front."

"Thank you," the purple unicorn replied.

Notes went back to reading his book while Twilight found what she wanted to buy. Before long, she was at the counter with several books.

"W-will that be all?" asked Notes. Twilight nodded in confirmation. "Well then, t-that'll be 23 bits, please. After receiving his payment he bade goodbye. "Have a good day, Twilight."

"Actually Notes, I wanted to talk to you about something," Twilight said.

"W-well, what do you need to talk about?" replied Notes.

"I think I had a great idea on how to raise awareness for reading and give your store and my library more business," explained the mare.

Notes was curious now. "R-really? How do propose we do that?" He was eager to learn about a way to increase his profits.

"I propose that we create a book club. I've been asking around and found quite a few ponies that would be interested. We could alternate meetings between your bookstore and my library. It would be perfect! It would be great publicity! All that we need to decide is the meeting schedule and the first book that we'll read, which you'll be providing of course," explained Twilight.

Overwhelmed by the onrush of details, Notes held up his hoof, asking Twilight to slow down. "Please, h-hold on. I h-have to supply the books? I'm really sorry to disagree, but, um, I don't think I can afford to supply all of the books. Um, how many ponies will be joining anyways?"

Perplexed, Twilight asked, "But your business has been doing better lately. You've had more customers ever since those posters were made. Why can't you give away a few free books?"

"I-it's true that business has been better, but I still can't afford to give away so many books. I need any profit I can make, to, um, pay off a few things," Notes said nervously.

The writer's last statement intrigued the unicorn. "What kind of things do you need to pay off?" she asked.

"Oh, um, you know, the usual things," replied Notes, "A-anyways, back to my other question, if you don't mind that is, how many ponies have you talked to about this?"

Twilight eyed Notes suspiciously but answered, "Well, I've spoken to a few ponies already. Rarity said that she'll join. She said something about becoming more involved in social societies or something. Cherilee, the school teacher, also said that she'll come. Oh, and Fluttershy said that she might join."

"Oh, that's all? I, um, I guess I could spare a few free books if only three other ponies join. But, if more join, don't think that I could afford to supply them," said Notes. He was surprised and pleased that Fluttershy might be a part of the new book club. For some reason he felt at peace around here. The gray stallion supposed it was probably because of his crush.

"Well, if that's all, I'll be on my way. Would you mind if we meet tomorrow to discuss meeting days and book lists?" replied Twilight, pleased at how things were proceeding.

"Um, a-actually Twilight I, uh, wanted to ask you something," responded Notes.

"Oh, sure, what is it that you need?" asked the purple unicorn.

"Could you tell me how to impress a mare?" Notes blurted out. He instantly started blushing over his spur of the moment inquiry. "Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that."

Twilight, despite the awkwardness of the situation, started to break out in laughter. "Geez Notes. You need to stop apologizing over everything. You're just like Fluttershy. Anyways, I'd be glad to help."

Notes sighed in relief. He had thought that Notes's question would make him look rude. "Thanks Twilight, I'm no expert when it comes to relationships."

Twilight's eyes gleamed in curiosity, as was her studious nature. "So who's the lucky mare? Is she anypony that I might know?"

Knowing that Fluttershy was close friend of Twilight, Notes lied, "N-no, she's not anypony that you'd know." Notes wasn't sure exactly why he lied, but he figured that Twilight might, for one reason or another, be protective of her timid friend and be weary of anypony attempting to date her.

"Oh, okay. Well, if you want to impress a mare, you have to know her interests. What is the mare in question like?" questioned Twilight.

Notes tried to think of everything he could about Fluttershy without giving away her identity. Notes's strong suit had never been lying. "S-she's really, um, taciturn," he answered, "She also loves nature and, uh, is very kind."

"Hmmmm. If that's the case, I guess you should try to do things she likes, go on hikes, care for animals, you know, nature stuff. If she's quiet, I suppose you should try and be supportive and act confident around her," suggested Twilight.

"Yeah," agreed Notes, "She loves animals. But I-I'm not so sure about the confidence part. I'm a pretty nervous stallion. A-and you've probably noticed my stutter. It has held be back before."

"How so?" asked the violet mare.

"W-well, when I was in high school, I graduated first in my class. I was the valedictorian. N-naturally I had to give a speech. I stayed up many long nights writing it. When I submitted it to the p-principle, he said it was probably the best speech he had ever read," said Notes. "B-but when graduation day came, I b-blew it. Normally, I can keep my stutter under control pretty well in a normal conversation. But when I s-speak in public, it's different. I seize up, m-my stutter goes out of control. The speech was a failure to say the least."

"Don' worry Notes I'm sure there's some way we can fix this. I've given plenty of speeches. If you'd like, I could give you lessons," offered Twilight.

Notes shook his head sadly. "Thank you very much Twilight but I have to say no. I've had all sorts of lessons and none of them have worked. Besides, I couldn't afford to pay for the lessons."

Twilight raised her hoof in protest. "Don't worry about it, the lessons are free. Think of it as an act of kindness, friend to friend. And don't worry, about the results, the reason you haven't fixed your stutter is because I wasn't your teacher. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be fit to give royal decrees."

Notes sighed, defeated. His mood did brighten, however. "If you insist. T-thank you Twilight. Oh, and Twilight? Would you mind keeping my crush a secret, please?"

"No problem Notes. I swear on my honor as Celestia's personal student," decreed Twilight.

Notes face broke out into a wide smile. "Thank you very much Twilight. You'll be a bug help."

Twilight simple smiled back and said, "Think nothing of it. That's what friends are for. Have a great day." After a brief goodbye, she left the store, leaving Notes in a sense of calmness he rarely felt outside the small field in the forest.

xXx

Twilight's POV

Twilight was headed back to the library after her lengthy conversation with Notes. She hadn't fallen for Notes sad attempts at lying. The purple unicorn was fairly certain that the gray stallion had a crush on her friend Fluttershy.

_He's a nice guy, _she thought_, I'm sure that Fluttershy would be happy with a gentlecolt like him._

Thinking back to his attempt at deceit, Twilight had to suppress a laugh. _He might be a worse liar than Applejack, _she thought, smiling inwardly.

**A/N: Well Chapter 6 is obviously up, albeit a bit late. I said it once, but I'll say it again, sorry for the delay, I had another serious case of writer's block. I'm trying to come up with filler content to build up until Notes's past is revealed, which will be in about 2 to 3 chapters. If any veteran writers are reading, advice about putting aside writing time would be most appreciated. Thanks to all readers patient enough to wait for this update. As always, please review to share your thoughts. I sincerely hope the next update does not take this long. Well, until next time.**


	7. Girl Talk

**A/N: Sorry again for the late update. At this time, the update time was a way over one solid week. It's been more like two weeks. Sorry about that. I'm trying to get to the point where all of my updates are either on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, when I'll have the most free time to upload and work. I hope you enjoy the latest chapter.**

**Simple Words**

Girl Talk

Fluttershy's POV

The sun slowly rose over the horizon, gently casting its rays over the sleeping form of a pegasus. As the light illuminated the insides of her eye lids, the mare rose from bed. Her mane gracefully fell across her face without the need for it being brushed. She proceeded to go down stairs and begin the glorious new day.

"Okay everybody, time to rise and shine," Fluttershy called out quietly to the seemingly empty forest cottage.

Immediately, the house seemed to come to life. Birds flew out of bird houses hanging from the ceiling. Mice, squirrels, and other rodents descended from tiny sets of stairs that led to other elevated houses. Animal calls and chicken clucking could also be heard coming from the pens and enclosures outside.

"If everybody would calm down, I could give you all some breakfast." The animals quieted and Fluttershy went around to each individual and distributed food.

"Here's your feed-Is that enough food-Oh I'm sorry I'll get to you in a moment-Angel please finish your carrots", said the yellow pegasus throughout the morning as she fed and attended to all of the creatures in her care.

By the time she was finished every animal, it was around 11 o'clock. Turning to her pet bunny Angel, Fluttershy said, "Listen Angel, Momma has to go into town for her spa appointment with Rarity. Would you be a dear and make sure that none of the others get into trouble?" The cynical rabbit nodded, indicating that, in fact, did mind.

"Oh please Angel, Momma would really appreciate it," pleaded Fluttershy. Angel just shook his head at Fluttershy's request.

"How about I go to the market while I'm in town? I'd be sure to get you the freshest, juiciest carrots," Fluttershy offered.

At this new development, the rabbit began to think. After a while it seemed that carrots were more important than denying responsibility and Angel agreed.

Fluttershy gave Angel a bone crushing hug, saying, "Thank you so much! Momma appreciates it."

The bunny pushed the motherly mare off of him and motioned for to go out the door, withdrawing a pocket watch for emphasis.

"Oh my gosh, Angel you're right. I have to my spa appointment with Rarity." With that, Fluttershy exited her cottage at a gentle trot.

xXx

Ponyville was in view as Fluttershy continued on the forest trail that led from her home. She proceeded down Mane Street, heading for the spa. Along the way she noticed a certain violet unicorn exiting from her tree house.

"Good morning Twilight. How are you?" greeted Fluttershy as she walked over to talk to the unicorn.

"Oh hello Fluttershy. I'm doing fine, thank you. I guess that you're heading to the spa for your weekly got together with Rarity."

"Oh yes, we're going to have such a relaxing afternoon," responded Fluttershy quietly, "Where are you heading? Not that you have to tell me if you don't want to."

"I'm heading over to Notes's bookstore, you remember him don't you? He was the one who had the welcome to Ponyville party last month."

"Why yes I do. I sometimes run into him in the woods while he writes," replied Fluttershy. "We'll usually talk for a while when we do. He's nice. Why are you going to his shop?"

"Well, I had an idea to boost sales and my check outs. I'm going to propose that we start a book club," explained Twilight. "I've already talked to a few ponies and Rarity said she'd join. Speaking of which, do you want to join? The more the merrier."

Fluttershy thought it over. Her life was pretty busy as it is, tending to her animals as well as making tie for her friends. A book club might be a little too much. But, for some unknown reason, spending more time around the gray earth pony sounded inviting.

"Oh, um, I don't know Twilight. Sometimes I'm just so busy. I'm not really sure if starting something new is the best thing to do. But, I'll do it if my friends are."

Twilight brightened up upon hearing Fluttershy's confirmation. "That's good to hear. I haven't been able to recruit many two members besides Rarity and Cherilee. And hay, Notes hasn't even agreed to the idea!"

"He hasn't agreed yet? Are you sure that he'd be okay with you going around asking ponies to join a club that doesn't really exist?" asked Fluttershy, voicing her concern.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure that Notes will agree. After all, all he has to do is supply the club with books. He'll see that the benefits outweigh the costs of this little venture."

"Um, if you say so," said Fluttershy. If she had learned one thing form her few talks with Notes, it was that he didn't like surprises. But, Fluttershy didn't want to discourage her friend. "Well, um, good luck. I have to make my spa date with Rarity."

"Okay, Fluttershy. Enjoy your appointment," said Twilight as she trotted away in the direction of the bookstore.

"Oh, um, you too," Fluttershy called after her.

Soon, the spa came into view. It was hardly distinguishable from the surrounding buildings, with a thatched roof and plaster walls. The thing that marked it as a spa was a hanging sign of a regal looking pony, apparently having just been pampered. The only other feature differentiating from the other buildings on the street was the floral display around the property. It seemed to symbolize every mare's idea of a relaxing place.

As she walked in through the front door, Fluttershy spotted Rarity reading an issue of Ponies magazine. It was one of those few times that Rarity had been earlier than Fluttershy.

Upon seeing her, Rarity greeted Fluttershy. "Why, good afternoon darling. Are you ready for the appointment?"

"Oh hello Rarity. Yes I'm ready, that is if you're ready, I mean." Rarity nodded in agreement and the two mares paid the receptionist for their treatment. The receptionist, a pony by the name of Lotus led them to the sauna. After pouring water over the hot coals, Lotus left the mares to their own devices in the sweat room.

Without wasting any time, Rarity launched into one of the many stories about her many clients. "And so I say, 'Darling, that is simply not your color; you'd be the laughing stock of the entire party'."

"Oh dear, didn't that hurt feelings," asked Fluttershy, concerned for the anonymous client.

"Not at all darling. A customer appreciates honesty, especially in fashion. She knew that I knew what I was talking about," the seamstress explained.

"Oh, that's good," said Fluttershy, her concerns assuaged. Without hesitation, Rarity started yet another story about a client who wanted 20 dresses in a one week period. Normally, Fluttershy would listen to these stories without a problem, but today there was something that she wanted to talk to Rarity about; mare to mare.

_Oh but that's okay if we don't get to it, _Fluttershy thought to herself, _what she has to say is probably more important anyways._ So that's how their sauna session was spent, with Rarity telling stories and Fluttershy listening and commenting.

After the sauna, the afternoon passed in a blur. The two mares were escorted by the spa's proprietors, the sisters Aloe and Lotus, to another room. Here, Lotus applied a large amount of face cream to Rarity while also putting cucumber slices over her eyes. She then began filing the unicorn's hooves and horn. Fluttershy, by contrast, had a more simplistic treatment, having Aloe apply only a small amount of cream to her cheeks.

Just like in the sauna, rarity continued her tales of dress making. "And so, the other day, guess who should wander into my humble little shop, but Ms. Sapphire! She wanted me to make her even more gem-studded outfits for her concerts. I'll have to go into the mountains later this week with Spike to find some gemstones."

"What about those mean Diamond Dogs? Aren't you worried?" asked Fluttershy.

"I don't think I'll receive any more trouble from those brutes, especially not after my previous display. They'd sooner give the gems I need than keep me captive again."

"Oh, okay,' replied Fluttershy. She remembered the day when Rarity had gotten captured by the subterranean beats that called themselves the Diamond Dogs. Fluttershy and her friends had spent the whole day lost in the tunnels looking for their missing friend. When they did manage to find Rarity, they found her towering above the cowering Diamond Dogs who were begging for mercy. They had all learned after that day that Rarity could take care of herself, despite her more elegant and refined life style.

The rest of the two mares' spa day went without any interruption. The two friends received personal massages and mud baths, as was their usual. Throughout it all though, the thing that Fluttershy wanted to ask rarity about kept nagging at the edge of the pegasus's mind. It mas when they were soaking their hooves in an herbal bath that Fluttershy decided to bring it up.

"Listen, um, Rarity, there's something I've meaning to ask you. That is if there isn't something else you'd rather talk about."

"Oh please Fluttershy, I've been talking all about my life this afternoon. Of course I want to hear your question. Now, what is it dear?"

Fluttershy mumbled something inaudible. Her face flushed as she said it.

"Excuse me darling, what was that? You'll have to speak up."

"IthinkIhaveacrushonastallion!" Fluttershy burst out. Her face was practically the color of the roses decorating the spa.

"Please, dear, calm down and just say what it is you want to talk about,' said Rarity in an attempt to get whatever Fluttershy had to say to come out.

"Oh my, I'm terribly sorry. It's just that I, um, think that I have a crush on a stallion. I was wondering if you could, um, give me some advice," explained Fluttershy quietly, hiding her face behind her mane in embarrassment.

Rarity, on the other hand, grew excited. "Oh, you do? This is so exciting. Our little Fluttershy has a crush! I have to take you to the boutique. You can give me _all _the details."

With that, Rarity grabbed Fluttershy and, after discarding their bath robes and tipping the spa owners, led Fluttershy out of the spa in the direction of the Carousel Boutique.

_Oh my, _thought Fluttershy as Rarity was all but forcing her to follow her home, _what have I gotten myself into?_

**A/N: Wow. It's been two weeks since the last update. That's the longest waiting period yet. I could give you the long list of excuses, but I'll stick to the short one. Things have been pretty hectic lately and I'm simply a chronic procrastinator. Anyways, expect the next chapter between next Friday and Sunday, hopefully. Thank you for being patient and for reading the chapter. I hope you enjoyed. As always, reviews are much appreciated.**


	8. Emerging Secrets

**A/N: Hello reader. I almost got my update up on time for once. Arggh not really! I wasn't even close. Sorry again about last time's long wait. Without further ado, here is chapter eight. Enjoy.**

**Simple Words**

Emerging Secrets

Notes's POV

Notes awoke to the sound of somepony knocking harshly on his bookstore's door. He sat up quickly, surprised by the sudden noise. The earth pony looked over to his clock and saw that he had slept in to about 10:45; he had overslept. Lately he had been sleeping in later, considering most of his customers didn't come in until late afternoon. It would seem that that decision was a poor one.

Quickly, making himself presentable, Notes made his way to the door. Opening it, he found one of the last ponies he would expect to find at a book shop. It was Rainbow Dash. Notes hadn't seen her much since the party.

"Oh, um, hello Rainbow Dash how can help you?" asked Notes, fighting back a yawn of exhaustion. He had stayed up late exploring an idea he had for a book.

"Hey, nice to see you Notes, but can we skip the chit chat? I've been waiting out here since ten! The sign says you open at 10 o'clock. What's up with that?"

"Um, I'm s-sorry Rainbow Dash. I've started opening my store later s-since I don't usually have many morning customers. Hehe, I-I guess that I haven't gotten around to changing the sign," explained Note.

Rainbow Dash waved her hoof dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. Can I _please _come in? This is a bookstore, isn't it?"

"Sorry, of course it is. Please, come in," Notes said as he made room for the irritated pegasus to enter the store. "Is there anything I can, um, help you find?"

"Actually, there is. Do you have the new Daring Do book? You know the one with the Temple of Chaos?"

"Well, I might have it in the new arrival section. I-I don't really know. Have you checked the library?" asked Notes.

Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Only like about a billion times. Twilight doesn't have it yet and I have to know what happens to Daring Do!"

"Okay, okay. W-Why don't you have a look around? When you're ready, come to the counter to check out."

"Great, thanks." With that, Rainbow Dash disappeared into the maze of book shelves. Meanwhile, Notes wandered the store taking inventory of the books in each shelf. In the middle of counting the number of mystery novel he had, his train of thought was interrupted by the sound of his counter bell ringing.

"Hey Notes! I'm ready to check out!" Notes heard Rainbow Dash yell from the front of the store.

"I hear you," muttered Notes as he made his way to the counter. He'd have to take inventory another time.

As he got behind the counter, Rainbow Dash noticed a particularly worn book on the counter. "Hey Notes, what book is that? It doesn't have a title." Without waiting for a reply, Rainbow grabbed the old book and began flipping through the pages.

Notes, who was busy calculating the mare's purchase didn't look up until she was reading the book. "Hmm. What book?" Upon seeing his journal being read by another pony, Notes reached out and grabbed the journal from the mare's grasp.

"Hey! What gives?" exclaimed the indignant pony. "Why can't I see that book?"

"O-Oh, um, I-I'm really sorry about that. It's just that, um, this book is actually my journal. It's, well, i-it's private," Notes sputtered out nervously. He wondered if she had read anything significant. The gray earth pony, trying to lighten the mood chuckled awkwardly. "Hehe. No harm done though, I guess."

Rainbow Dash reached back to rub the back of her head awkwardly. "Yeah. Uh, sorry about that, I guess I shouldn't have looked without your permission." Changing the subject Rainbow Dash continued, "So, anyways I hear you're starting a book club. When is it? I was wondering if I could join."

Notes sighed in relief the topic had been changed. Still, an interest in books didn't seem much like Rainbow Dash. "Um, sure you can join if you want. But, if you don't mind me asking, why are you interested. It's just that at the party, you said books were lame."

"Yeah, well, about that. Sorry I said that at the party. I love books now. You see, a few days ago, I broke my wing and had to stay in the hospital. While I was there, I read this amazing Daring Do book," Rainbow Dash explained.

The young writer smiled. "Well, it's, um, very nice to see that you enjoy books now. Oh, and I hope your wing feels okay. Ah, silly me, your question. Of c-course you can come to the club. Just p-please bring 2 bits for the book."

"Okay see you then," shouted the cyan pegasus as she flew out of the store, leaving behind several bits for her purchase.

With the departure of Rainbow Dash, the shop returned to its usual state, emptiness. Notes sighed. There were still so many books to sell, so many stories to write. Deciding to make himself useful, he grabbed a broom and began tidying up before his guests arrived.

xXx

Later That Day

Notes's POV

The first of Notes's guests arrived around mid-afternoon. By the time that everypony had shown up, the bookstore was more crowded than it ever was. The single roomed building was filled with 10 ponies in all.

As Twilight had predicted, Rarity and Cherilee had come. Rainbow Dash also made good on her decision to join. Surprisingly, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy had also decided to see what the book club was all about. Also accompanying Applejack was he little sister, Applebloom due to Applejack not being able to find a babysitter. After everypony was accounted for, Twilight called the meeting to order.

"Ok, clam down everypony," Twilight called out over the multiple conversations between the mingling ponies. "We can call the Ponyville Book Club to order. I'd like to thank our new friend Notes for not only inviting us into his establishment, but for also supplying us with our first book, _Of Mice and Stallions._ And thanks to Pinkie Pie for agreeing to cater this event."

Upon hearing the mention of the pink party pony's involvement in the meeting, Notes got anxious. His memories and brief encounters with her weren't exactly the calm atmosphere that a book club would require. He walked up to Twilight to voice his concerns.

"Um, Twilight," Notes whispered. "We didn't exactly, um, agree that Pinkie was catering. I didn't put that into the budget. B-besides, not to be rude or anything, but are you sure Pinkie Pie won't turn this into some kind of party. I-I mean, look at that cannon." He made his last statement eyeing Pinkie Pie's homemade "party cannon" suspiciously.

Twilight planned to resolve any worries. "Oh please Notes, you worry too much. Pinkie isn't charging. And I think she has enough sense to set off the party cannon here. She probably brought here because she has another to party to get to after this or - WHAT THE HAY!"

The party pony has decided to set off her cannon just as Twilight was trying to banish any worries about such an event taking place. Immediately, the plain, humble wood furnishing was replaced with confetti, balloons, and streamers. Inexplicably, Pinkie Pie had placed a party hat on everyponys' head and had set up a table of various baked goods.

"Okie dokie lokie, everypony, who's ready to party!" shouted the pin earth pony in a voice of pure excitement and festivity.

Everypony turned to look at Pinkie Pie, confused. Meanwhile, Twilight couldn't help but facehoof. "Uhgg. Pinkie Pie, you are so random sometimes," she muttered to herself.

Notes decided to speak up. "Um, P-Pinkie Pie," he said, "No offense or anything, but could you tone it down a bit, please? It's, um, just that this a book club, and it kind of needs peace and quiet, like a library." The gray pony held his breath in anxiety. In the afternoons he had shared a few times with Fluttershy, she had told him stories about her and her friends. One of them included Pinkie Pie's harsh reaction to being told no to party.

Pinkie seemed to take it surprising well. "Okay! Why didn't you say so? You won't hear a peep out of me!" The mare then zipped her mouth shut with what appeared to be an actual zipper. Shaking his head, Notes turned to the other ponies.

"O-okay everypony," Notes announced, "P-please feel free to help yourselves to, um, any refreshments while I get the books." The writer left the ponies to mingle whilst he moved to the small alcove behind the store counter. Opening one of the storage closets, Notes withdrew a cardboard box containing the books he had ordered from Manhattan. Carefully lifting it onto his back, Notes carried the box back to his guests.

When he returned, Notes saw that the group of ponies had arranged themselves in a sitting circle with Twilight looking over one of her trademark clipboards.

Seeing Notes approach with the books, the purple unicorn glanced up from whatever she was writing on the clipboard. "Ok everypony, now that everypony is accounted for Notes can distribute the books. Please also deposit your two bits for the book on the counter in the back of the store."

While everypony else went to deposit their money, Notes opened the box and examined the eight novellas inside. The book, _Of Mice and Stallions, _had an illustration of two ponies walking down a forest path. One of the ponies was a large brown stallion wearing a straw hat and had a cutie mark resembling a bulging muscle. The other pony, this one black with a white mane and tail, was smaller than his companion but wore a nice suit and a light bulb adorned his flank, representing bright ideas. After, done examining the novella, Notes distributed the books to his guests.

Once everypony had a copy, Twilight called the meeting to an official start. "Now that everypony has a copy, we can get this first meeting of the Ponyville Book Club to order. Before I wrap up and give Notes a chance to speak, does anypony have any questions?"

Applejack raised her hoof. "Yeah, it's 'bout mah sister. Ah couldn't find her a babysitter considerin' all y'all would be here. Notes, do you reckon there's somewhere she can spend the meeting?"

"Well, um, there's a colts and fillies section over there," said Notes pointing his hoof in the direction of the section in question. "She can read anything she finds in that section, if she wants that is."

The orange farm pony sent her younger sister to the foals section and meeting began in earnest.

xXx

Applebloom's POV

After she left the grown ponies to their meeting, Applebloom began to browse the book shelves. The yellow filly wasn't impressed by the selection for fillies. It mainly contained romance and fairy tale books.

"Why in tarnation is it that all the books fer fillies gotta be 'bout all this lovey dovey frou-frou garbage?" sighed the exasperated filly.

Continuing her search for something to pass the time, Applebloom found herself at the store's back counter. Looking up, the young earth pony saw a strange brown book hanging over the counter. Balancing on her hind hooves, she grabbed the book with her mouth to her a closer look.

The book was strange in appearance. It had no title and no author on its cover. There was also no summary on the back or inside cover. Upon looking inside it, the book appeared to be written in a journal format. Seeing the material as a way to pass the time, Applebloom began to flip through the pages and read.

**A/N: This wait was just inexcusable and I apologize. Due to these long waits between updates, I've decided to do away with my update schedule and go with the flow. It wasn't as if the schedule helped before. I do intend, however, to update more frequently than this recent wait. I tried to make this chapter longer o make up for the shortcoming in the schedule. Please review and offer constructive criticism.**


	9. Lessons in SelfEsteem

**Simple Words**

**Chapter 9: Lessons in Self Esteem**

Notes's POV

The meeting was nearly over. Twilight and Notes had explained the entire concept and purpose of the new club and passed out the books. All of the ponies were to finish the novella and return for the next meeting in one month's time to discuss and select a new piece of reading material.

As the ponies attempted to clean up the havoc brought on upon by Pinkie's party cannon. Seeing that the others had the situation under control, Notes decided to fetch Applebloom for Applejack. After a brief search, he found her engrossed in a worn, brown book.

"Um, Applebloom!" Notes called to the filly. Seeing the yellow pony raise her head in acknowledgement, Notes continued, "The meeting is over. Y-your sister is looking for you. She'd like to leave now, as long as you're ready, that is."

'Oh, okay Mr. Notes!" Applebloom exclaimed cheerfully before racing off. Notes couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the energy of the foal. The writer was just about to reshelf the book when he noticed that it was, in fact, his own journal.

_This is ridiculous, _he thought. _Do I have to get a safe to keep everypony from reading my journal!_

Notes quickly began flipping through the pages of the old book. Young colts and fillies had a way of bending and folding pages so that one could tell how far they'd read. The earth pony breathed a sigh of relief that it appeared that Applebloom hadn't read up to the point where he began making journal entries about Ponyville. To her, it could've been any other novel with a journal set up.

On his way to the store counter to deposit his journal far from anypony's prying eyes, Notes heard Flame let out a long, wailing meow. Dropping the book, Notes rushed to the source of the noise, fearing the worst for his cat. He was surprised to see Flame rolled over on his back whilst Fluttershy rubbed his belly and cooed gently. It was apparent that everypony else had left the book shop.

"Aww, you're just a sweet little pussy cat aren't you?" she murmured as she continued stroking his belly. "You're just so cute!"

Notes coughed awkwardly, trying to gain the mare's attention. For some unknown a reason, his throat had gone dry, making it hard for him to form words. Well, perhaps he did know why.

Hearing the stallion's purposeful cough, Fluttershy looked up to be surprised by the gray pony standing across the room. She let out a startled squeak and blushed nervously. "Oh, um, hello Notes. I didn't hear you," the pegasus said in her quiet voice. Looking to the orange tom cat again, she asked, "Is he yours?"

"Um, y-yeah," Notes started. "His name is, uh, Flame. I-I raised him from a kit. Hehe, I s-suppose he's the last of my old friends."

Fluttershy continued to rub the tom's bright orange fur. "Well, you've, um, done a great job raising him, if you don't mind my saying," responded the mare flushing slightly at her compliment.

"Um, thank you. I did the best I could, there were certain complications with raising him." Notes smiled, lost a bit in nostalgia. "But I suppose everything turned out okay for him."

The yellow mare stopped petting the aging cat, causing him to rise stiffly and amble off. "Oh dear, he sure is very old, poor thing," Fluttershy noted, seeing the cat's difficult movement.

Notes winced slightly her comment but managed to say, "Y-yeah, he is old. Really old. A-anyways, thanks for, um, coming to the meeting in all, but I have to, uh, clean a few things up, y-yeah I have cleaning to do." The writer finished with a nervous smile.

The pegasus looked around and saw the store spick and span, but didn't say anything about it. She slowly made her way to the exit and left Notes with a suspicious, "Well, um, goodbye."

The moment the mare had left, Notes relaxed and let out a long sigh. He always got anxious around mare he had, certain attractions to. Seeing Flame sprawled out on his side, out of either laziness or exhaustion, Notes trotted over.

Upon reaching the old tom cat, Notes crouched into a comfortable position and started stroking the graying fur. "Y-you pulling through buddy? I-I'm sure things will start to get better. Just p-please don't leave, you're all I've got left. The only one who remembers how things used to be, my last old friend."

xXx

Notes's POV

The next day Twilight started Notes's confidence lessons in earnest. She had woken Notes up at the crack of dawn, much to the writer's chagrin. At present, the two were leaving town in the direction of the unofficial pet park.

Notes, still far from awake, asked Twilight, "Where are we going? We could've done the lesson at the shop. A-all I had to do was clean up the ramen noodle cups."

The unicorn giggled to herself, remembering the comedic look on Notes's face as he realized that he had forgotten to clean up his gourmet meal. "Well, I've been mapping Rainbow Dash's napping habits for quite some time, and previous evidence suggests she should be napping in one of these trees. She's the most confident pony I know and I'm sure she can teach you a thing or two."

"Are you sure t-that that would be the best idea, no offense, Twilight? I'd prefer to keep this a secret."

"You shouldn't worry so much," responded Twilight, "Rainbow Dash and I are great friends, she'll keep a secret if I ask her to."

The two ponies continued in silence until Notes caught sight of what appeared to be a blue blanket peeking out between the leaves of a nearby tree. He wasn't sure but he thought he could hear snoring. Notes jabbed Twilight in the side and motioned towards the tree with his head. The librarian nodded in acknowledgement.

"Now go over to the tree and knock her out," Twilight instructed Notes.

"What?" Notes replied, shocked. "I-I can't do that, it'd be r-really rude. B-besides, Rainbow Dash doesn't seem like the kind of mare you'd want to get angry, no o-offense or anything to her."

"Argh, come on Notes! I'm trying to teach you to be confident. Trust me; this will help in the long run. And remember, I'm still hear. I'll be sure to keep Rainbow from getting too violent."

"Well, thanks for that vote of confidence," mumbled Notes incoherently as he walked to the tree. He would never have allowed Twilight to hear his complaints. The last thing he wanted to do was to appear rude or ungrateful. Still, the earth pony had never thought that he would be caught in the early morning about to buck a mare out of a tree.

_I swear, the times are crazy,_ Notes thought to himself.

Now at the foot of the tree, Notes took the opportunity to look up at its immense height. For the briefest moment, he thought of chickening out, but he steeled himself, full of self-resolve. He turned around, his back facing the tree, and closed his eyes. Bringing his hind legs to his chest, whilst keeping his balance, Notes then struck the tree with every ounce of meager strength he could muster into his back legs.

The tree shuddered from the force of the impact, and there was a noticeable rustling in the branches high above. A few seconds later, a pillow and blanket hit the ground followed briefly by a cyan colored form with a hint of rainbow.

Just before colliding with the ground, the pegasus drowsily recovered in midair and came to land, quite clumsily, on all four hooves. Shaking any lingering feelings of sleep, Rainbow Dash became fully awake. Now that the mare was fully alert, she looked around accusingly until her eyes settled on the closet pony, Notes. The glare of accusation and thirst for vengeance was one of the scariest things Notes had seen in his life.

"I am going to KILL YOU!"

Notes's eyes widened and his pupils contracted in shock. "I-I-I didn't mean to…. T-Twilight a-asked me t-to….," Notes stuttered out, a look of absolute horror painted on his face.

Rainbow Dash was just about to charge at Notes with murderous intent, when something hindered her movement. Looking back, she saw that Twilight was holding her firmly in place with her magic.

_Thank Celestia, _Notes silently prayed seeing that the pegasus had been put under control.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" shouted an indignant Rainbow Dash. "Lemme at him! The punk ruined my nap!"

For a moment it seemed that Rainbow Dash would break free of Twilight's magic through strength of will alone. Luckily for Notes, the unicorn's spell held fast. Still, Notes decided to play it safe. He plopped to the ground and pulled out the notepad he always carried with him and a pen. If he was going to die at Rainbow's hooves today, he might as well right a will.

Meanwhile, Twilight was attempting to explain the situation to Dash. "Rainbow please calm down- now there's no need for language like that. Wow, you must be really mad- anyways it was me who asked Notes to kick you out of the tree. What did you say about my mother? Insults aside, I'm trying to teach Notes some self-confidence and you're not exactly helping."

It appeared that the purple unicorn was getting nowhere with the hot-blooded pegasus. Exasperated, Twilight turned to the gray earth pony. "Notes could you please explain the situation to Rainbow Dash, this spell puts on quiet a strain. Notes? Notes? Where the Tartarus did you go?"

Looking around, Twilight could catch no sign of her protégé. What did jump out at her was a note on the ground, presumably by Notes himself. Seeing that she had no hyperventilating stallion to protect, the mare let rainbow Dash free from the spell.

The pegasus landed firmly on the ground next to Twilight and the note. She had appeared to have calmed down.

"What got you calmed?" inquired Twilight. "Just a few seconds ago, you were ready to pummel Notes to a bloody pulp."

At the unicorn's claim, Rainbow broke into a fit of laughter. "I know! Did you see his face? It was priceless!"

"Wait, you weren't going to kick his teeth in?"

"What? Of course not; that'd be _way _uncool. It was just a prank, and judging by the look on his face, I'd say it was hilarious."

The purple mare sighed, frustrated with Dash's immature prank. "Well, thanks a lot for setting back my self-esteem lessons with Notes."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Don't forget, it was your brilliant to have him knock me out of a tree."

"Touché."

Rainbow motioned to the piece of writing on the ground. "So, what did the guy write?"

Picking up the note with her magic, Twilight read aloud, "Twilight, I'm sorry but I'm afraid I have to leave our lesson prematurely. It's just there's something about Rainbow Dash trying to murder me, that le me believe to the lesson would proceed more smoothly if I were to leave. That's not to imply that it wasn't a great lesson, you did a great job. Sorry and Sincerely, Notes."

"Wow, he sure can write fast," Rainbow commented.

Again, Twilight sighed, thoroughly irritated. "Well, I suppose that's our lesson. Thanks for _enlightening_ us this morning."

"It was my pleasure. The next time you want to scare the crap out of Notes just bring him back here. I would pay, like a kagillion zillion bits, just to see the look on his face."

Twilight ignored the other mare's comment and headed back to the library. She and Spike had books to reshelf.

**A/N: Well, I'm back. It's been two months. Two freaking months! Ugh. Sorry about the *ahem* slight delay. I had a perfect storm of laziness, procrastination, writer's block, academics, and technical issues. At the plus side, I used most of the time to roughly plot out, more or less, the entire storyline. All I have to do now is translate it into writing. I'd like to thank everybody for their patience, it is most appreciated. Be prepared, the plot thickens in the next chapter. As always, please review and provide feedback. Here's to not having this long of a waiting period this time!**


	10. A Letter

**Simple Words**

**Chapter 10: A Letter**

Notes was excited. Sales were finally beginning to pick up and he had accumulated enough bits to buy the one thing is cozy, little home needed, a coffee maker. Sure, he could've saved the money and bought a bed, but Notes knew his priorities. So for the first time since he moved to Ponyville, he was able to wake up early before the shop opened and enjoy a steaming mug of coffee whilst reading the newspaper.

Flipping through the paper, appropriately named _Equestria Daily_, Notes read the headlines. Wonderbolts Lose Race to Athletes from the Griffin Kingdom. Latest in Hoity Toity's Summer Fashion Lineup. Princess Celestia Sends Political Prisoners to the Moon.

Nothing in particular caught Notes's eye as he flipped through the pages; it was same old everyday occurrences. Despite his nice cup of coffee and his store's relaxed atmosphere at the moment, something was bothering Notes. Just the other day, he had run out if contact lenses. Now, Notes's eyesight was as bad as some ponies' might be, but he still needed the lenses. Frustrated, Notes considered his options. On the one hoof, he could go around with poor sight until he could buy some more contacts; or he could wear the glasses.

Deciding on the latter; Notes opened a drawer. There they were. Being made for ponies, the glasses were already absurdly large to accommodate the large eyes that ponies possessed. They were old glasses; Notes had had them since he was a foal. Everything from black metal frame to the perfectly round lenses was familiar. Notes indulged himself in remembering how everypony, including his friends, would give him grief over his glasses since he was a colt. Those were good times. Forgetting how much he had once hated wearing the eyewear, he slipped the glasses on for both nostalgia and necessity's sake.

Upon returning this his loving cup of Joe and his newspaper, Notes received a demanding knock at the door. Looking to his clock, Notes saw that it was over an hour until he was due to open up shop. He mused as to whether it was Rainbow Dash. Ever since last week when the pegasus had the scared the buck out of him, she'd been poking fun at him, not that Notes really minded; it was rather funny looking back. The knocking came again, freeing Notes from his day dreaming.

Leaving his comfortable position, Notes walked to the door. Opening it, he saw that the one who had been knocking had been a gray pegasus with a blonde mane and tail. Her cutie mark resembled bubble wrap. Strangely, her yellow eyes appeared to be permanently crossed.

"G-good morning h-how may I help you?" Notes asked the mare.

"Are you Mr. Notes?" she burst out.

"Um, yeah. That's me."

Giving a salute with one of her forelegs the pegasus responded loudly, "Good morning Mr. Notes! I am Ditzy Doo the mail mare, but my friends call me Derpy Hooves. But, since I try to be friends with everypony, everypony calls me Derpy! I have a special delivery for you! Can I interest you in a muffin?"

"W-well, nice to meet you Ms. Derpy," Notes began to vivacious mail mare. "T-thanks for the offer, but I'll to d-decline to the muffin. I j-just ate breakfast you s-see."

The two stood there for a while awkwardly. At last, Notes cleared his throat. It succeeded in catching Derpy's attention.

"What is it Mr. Notes?"

"Um, I understand you h-had a letter f-for me. Y-you know, 'special delivery'."

"Oh that's right." She went to her mail bag and fetched out a letter. "Here you go Mr. Notes! Have a wonderful day!" With her work done, Derpy turned around and flew away, presumably to the next place on her mail route.

Having the letter grasped firmly in his jaw, Notes went back inside his home and shop. After depositing the mail on the store counter, the writer chanced a look at the return address. His blood ran cold and his eyes remained transfixed on the inscription. He hadn't seen that address in six years. The stallion wasted no time in tearing the envelope open and reading its contents.

He had to leave, _soon_. Notes now had urgent business elsewhere.

Today was Friends Day for the girls. Proposed by Pinkie Pie about a year ago, it was a day that came around once a month in which all of the girls (Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rainbow) would get together and do something together for the day. The one who got to choose their activity alternated between the six mares every month. This month, it was Twilights turn to choose, and she had chosen a day at the local book store. Presently, the Elements of Harmony were on their way to said store.

"Twi," Applejack started, "Ah know it's yer turn ta decide what we all are gonna do today. But really, a book store? Don't ya think that'll get a lil old after a while?"

Rainbow Dash jumped to the unicorn's defense. "Are you kidding me AJ? Have you even seen the place? It's ginormous! It's like the guy bought an apartment and tore down all the walls and made into a store!"

Though Twilight suspected that Notes had probably done something similar to what Rainbow Dash had described, she said nothing of it. She did however feel the need to defend the stallion by appealing to the farm pony's interest in reading material. "Don't worry Applejack," Twilight responded. "As Rainbow said, it is quite large. Besides the store has something for all of us. There's farming almanacs for you, fashion magazines for Rarity, the Daring Do series for Dash, animal books for Fluttershy, and joke books for Pinkie."

"What, um, about you Twilight?" Fluttershy asked in her usual soft spoken voice.

"I love all books silly!" replied the lavender unicorn enthusiastically.

"Oh, um, ok then."

"Besides, Fluttershy darling, I'm sure there are other things besides books that'll catch your attention," Rarity teased. It had been two weeks or so since the two mares' spa session in which Fluttershy had told the fashion diva about her crush on Notes. At the unicorn's comment, the yellow pegasus's face went beet red, causing her to find it behind her mane.

Twilight, oblivious to Rarity's hidden meaning in the statement, responded, "That's right Fluttershy. I don't know if you knew, but Notes has a cat too. I'm sure he'll be glad to introduce you!"

Fluttershy, happy to find a way out of any other awkward implications, lied, "Oh, um, no I didn't know he had a cat. That should be, um, really fun."

"Do you think he'll let us throw a party?" Pinkie asked out of nowhere whilst bouncing along.

"Uh, Pinkie, I don't think Notes would exactly appreciate an unplanned party, especially in his own store," Twilight told the pink pony.

"But everypony loves a party, silly! But, I guess you're right. Plus, I forgot my party cannon!"

The librarian just rolled her eyes at the strange party pony. "Yeah, we couldn't throw a party without the cannon. Anyways, we're here," Twilight said now that the six friends were in front of the establishment.

"Uh, Twi," Applejack began, "Ah hate ta burst yer bubble, but it looks like the place is closed."

"What! That's not right. The shop should've opened at least an hour ago."

"Well, perhaps you guys should've read the note on the door," interrupted Rainbow Dash, pointing at a note clearly nailed to the store's door.

"Let me see that," said the purple mare as she used magic to levitate the inscription off of the door and in front of her.

"What does it say, dear?" questioned Rarity.

"Yeah, Twilight! What's it say? What's it say?" Pinkie Pie joined in.

"If you all would quiet down, then I could tell you," responded Twilight hotly. Clearing her throat, she read aloud, "'To who it may concern, I'm afraid that the book and writing supplies store is closed indefinitely due to personal issues. I'd like to extend my sorrow to any inconveniences caused by my absence. Consequently, the newly created book club cannot be held here and is on hiatus unless otherwise notified by Twilight Sparkle. Again I am dearly sorry. Shop keeper, Notes. P.S. Twilight if you're reading this, please find somepony like Fluttershy to look after my cat. I sort of had to leave in a rush. I'll pay whomever you ask as soon as I'm back. Sorry.' Well, that's what it says."

"I wonder what could've made him leave in such a hurry." Rarity said to herself.

"I don't know why he'd leave but he really did leave quick," replied Rainbow Dash. "He forgot to lock his door." To show the others, she lightly tapped the door and it swung open.

"Oh dear, perhaps we should, um, go inside and find a key to lock the door, maybe," suggested Fluttershy.

Twilight agreed. "You're right Fluttershy. If he didn't lock the door, he probably has a key inside that will lock it. We'll go in, find the key, get out, lock the door, and come back another day."

"And perhaps, we'll get ta the bottom of why that Notes feller left so quickly," added AJ.

"And we can get ready for a super fun, fabulous welcome back party!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, bouncing into the shop. She was followed by Applejack.

"Yeah, and _I _still need to buy the latest Daring Do book," said Rainbow Dash, flying into the book store after the other two.

"Oh, and I need to, um, look after Notes's cat for him!" explained Fluttershy has she rushed inside to care for the aging tom.

"What? No girls! Come back! All we have to do is find the key! Listen to me!" shouted Twilight as four of her friends walked straight into a business that was clearly closed without the intent on simply "finding the key". She looked over to Rarity. "Aren't you going to go in too?"

"Darling, sometimes you just have to 'go with the flow' has some ponies say." With that, the white unicorn leisurely walked into the book store.

Twilight, on the other hoof, lowered her head; clearly annoyed. After getting inside the shop, she slammed the door shut with her magic.

**A/N: Well, lovely readers, I have updated once again. This time you all haven't had to wait an entire month. I must be getting better at this. I hope I have satisfied your expectations with this chapter's "plot thickening". Next chapter, we'll peer into Notes's journal as well as his past. Please review to tell me what you think! Until next time.**


	11. A Day in the Life

**Simple Words**

**Chapter 11: A Day in the Life**

This all felt wrong to Twilight. Here she was, with five of her closest friends in the house of one of their newest friends uninvited. Such an act went against all of the ideas of courtesy taught to her by her parents and Princess Celestia. Granted, Fluttershy had a reason to be here; it was her job to care for Notes's cat. The other five had come inside to "lock the door", even though Fluttershy would have been completely capable of doing that herself after her task was done.

In truth, they each had their own reasons for going inside. Rainbow Dash was here for the latest book in the Daring Do book series. Applejack was looking for a new farmer's almanac, though Twilight suspected that she was more curious about why Notes had left. Rarity had probably gone in for similar reasons; that, or a fashion magazine. Nopony really knew why Pinkie Pie did anything. Why Twilight was in there was a mystery even to her. Part of it was to actually make sure somepony locked the door, another part was to keep her friends in line, and another was sheer curiosity of Notes's rushed leaving.

Twilight felt strangely fond of the stallion. He was like a little brother to her, despite him seeming slightly older; nopony had ever discovered his age. The grey stallion's awkward nature and slight stutter made him endearing and it was kind of hard not to feel protective of him. Twilight also knew one of Notes's secrets. He had a crush on Fluttershy. The two seemed pretty compatible to Twilight. So far though, the confidence lessons the lavender mare had agreed to give Notes hadn't gone quite as planned.

Now, as a friend it was her duty to respect his privacy. Still, this whole scenario felt wrong.

The unicorn's first instinct was to keep tabs on her friends. Rarity was at the magazine rack, muttering about some designer's lack of creativity. Rainbow Dash had flown off to the fiction section, leaving a series of books knocked off their shelves. Twilight would have to pick those up later. Applejack was currently reading a farmer's almanac. Judging by the purrs coming for behind the counter, Fluttershy was attending to Flame.

"Well would ya look at that," AJ announced to nopony in particular. "'Says here that cow and pony manure can make plants grow better."

"Please darling, do try to keep _certain_ information to yourself," Rarity replied.

"I think I'll stick to reading about Daring Do," Rainbow shouted across the room, making a fake gagging noise.

Twilight rolled her eyes at her friends' banter and made her way to behind the store counter, in hopes of finding a key. They were here to "lock the door" after all. Below the cash register, there was a long drawer that stretched the length of the desk. It seemed as good a place to look as any. Grabbing the handle in her mouth, Twilight pulled the drawer open.

Unfortunately, the drawer did not contain a key. Instead, there were numerous book orders, several pens and loose pieces of paper, a bit of change, and an old, worn book. Curiosity got the better of her and she used her magic to withdraw the piece.

Upon closer inspection, the book was nothing special in terms of looks. It was brown; any title it might have once had was faded away. The spine, edges, and corners of the book were bent while some the pages seemed slightly torn. Being a librarian, Twilight was horrified at seeing a book in such bad condition. She wondered how Notes, an avid literature lover, could've let a something like this happen. The only explanation was that the book was old.

Now the scholar inside Twilight was taking over. The unicorn knew that old tomes usually held priceless information and valuable lessons. This work didn't seem as old as some that she had read, but any book was worth reading according to Twilight.

Just before she willed her magic to open the book, Twilight was again reminded of her friend's privacy. She had no right to snoop through Notes's belongings. For all she knew, this could be the gem of his book collection or something. Still… she was in a book shop after all. Surely, it wasn't a crime to read a book in such a store. Eventually, the scholar beat out the friend and Twilight decided to open the tome.

Knowing that the beginning pages of most works were either blank or full of printing information, Twilight skipped ahead several pages without so much as glancing at the first few. The book itself was modeled after a journal. There was no way to tell if it was fiction or non-fiction. The first entry was written about 14 years ago.

_March 23, 1372 __**A.**__fter __**D.**__iscord_

_Hi there! This is my new journal! But why am I telling you that? You're the journal! Today was my birthday. Now I'm ten, almost a grown stallion! As a gift Mother got me this journal. This whole month has been great first I got my cutie mark and then my birthday comes around. Wonderful! I guess I should talk about my family. I have two siblings. Big brother is named Elbow Grease, but we all call him Grease. He's an earth pony, probably the strongest pony in the world! He got his cutie mark, a flexing foreleg, when he was only eight (he's thirteen now)! Then we have little brother Drama. He's also an earth pony and is only one year younger than me. He doesn't have his cutie mark yet, but I suspect it'll have something to do with theatre. That leaves Mother and Father. Mother, unlike the rest of us is a pegasus. She usually works at home, but occasionally she'll perform in the local ballet (that's her special talent). Father is maybe the only earth pony who can lift more than Grease. He works at a factory along the assembly line. Well, there's a short introduction. I'll soon be filling up the rest of the pages._

Twilight kept reading the novel. The following entries were dated about a few weeks to a several months apart. The young colt (presumably) who was making the entries really only cataloged important family or school events and made a quick introduction to his closest friends. Eventually however, the entries stopped in the year 1373 and resumed in 1375.

_August 13, 1375 __**A.**__fter __**D.**__iscord_

_I haven't written in a while. I'm sorry for that. Times are hard. I suppose I should start with the good news. It's been two years since the day my baby sister, Cascade, was born. It's also been two years since the day that Mother died. We all miss her. I think Father took it worst of all. He's taken to working long night shifts and he more often than not returns home drunk. Grease takes care of us now more than he does. My brother had to drop out of school to take a job at the same factory Dad works at. Father's been more interested in spending bits on booze rather than the family. Drama remains in good spirits despite the situation, probably because he doesn't really understand what's going on. I'm thirteen now; I understand the mess we're in. Father's a drunk, driven mad by grief my Mother's death. He acts indifferent to Cascade, partly due to her birth being what killed Mom and partly due to the fact that she looks just like her. Grease has also told us not to tell anybody of our predicament; he doesn't need t explain why, I know. If someone were to find out, we'd be taken away from Father and separated. We can't let that happen. We're all still family._

The darker turn shocked Twilight. Either the author had no since of pacing or this was a real journal. Failing to put two and two together, the unicorn continued reading the book. The entries were spaced even further apart than before; new entries were only written every few months rather than weeks. Things were still bleak for the author/fictional character. His father was inclined to go into drunken rages though no physical harm had yet come to the family by their father's hooves. The colt was also facing bullying at school; on the brighter side, he was excelling academically, though that was most likely the reason he attracted spite form his peers. Another particular entry caught Twilight's eye.

_April 15, 1379 __**A.**__fter __**D.**__iscord_

_What can be done?! Everything is falling apart. He's gone; Drama's gone. It happened two days ago, a Friday. Drama was so happy, that's what got me. He'd just been cast for the lead of the school play. That night he came home proud and hopeful. At dinner, he announced his intention to go into show business (as his cutie mark agreed). Things went sour from there. Dad got into a shouting match with Drama, claiming his "dancing and prancing" wouldn't get him anywhere but the unemployment line. Sweet Celestia, Drama should never have talked back; he always was so defensive. It just kept escalating form there, with me and Grease watching on. Drama claimed that Father had forsaken us, that it was his fault that Grease had to drop out of school, that it was his fault that home is such a hell. Then Grease stepped in. He actually _defended _Father. He told Drama that he was being ungrateful to Dad after all the sacrifices he'd made for us and that it was his own decision to leave school. That was when the boy said that Mom would've wanted him to follow his dreams. It was real quiet after that. Grease was shocked beyond words. Father was choking with rage. He walked up real slow to Drama. Celestia bless the colt; he was shaking in fear. Father hit him, hard. That must've been the final straw for Drama. He ran right out the door. Grease and I tried to catch him but we couldn't; Drama had always been the fastest. It's been two days and still no sign of him. We've been constantly searching for him, we've notified the police, we've filed missing pony reports; still nothing. By "we" I mean Grease and I. I can't tell what Father is thinking. He might be numb with shock or grief, or he might be indifferent to the whole thing. Either way, I've taken to not speaking to him. He's no longer family._

Twilight was tempted to shut the book and continue with her task. The mare had never been fond of dark, sad, or tragic works. But, she kept reading, despite her distaste. The gaps between entries lengthened still; the entry after the one where Drama had left was an entire year after the previous one.

_June 9, 1380 __**A.**__fter __**D.**__iscord_

_I'm done, I'm finally free. Graduation was yesterday. I'm leaving. I've spent the last few months writing to Uncle Presston. It's been arranged that Cascade and I will be living with him for a while in Fillydelphia. He owns a printing company there. I'll be working there to earn Cascade's and my food and keep. I'll also be earning some bits with the money left over. The money that was set aside for all of our higher education has been almost spent by Father. Grease's fund is exhausted, but that's fine; Grease never had been interested in further schooling. Drama's is still relatively untouched; this money will be going towards Cascade's education. My own account is only about half way sufficient. By my calculations, it should take about two year's work at Uncle Presston's press to earn enough bits. Grease will remain here to watch after Father. We aren't as close as we used to be, but I know that Grease just wants to keep Dad alive. Besides, Grease has a good job here. I don't plan on saying goodbye to my friends; I don't know why. Perhaps I'm embarrassed, perhaps I'm jealous. Each of them will be leaving for their respective colleges. Even if things hadn't happened the way they did, we were destined to go our separate ways eventually. We leave tomorrow for Fillydelphia, for a new life._

Again, the next entry set far apart from the last chronologically; it was set six years later.

_May 14, 1386 __**A.**__fter __**D.**__iscord_

_This is it. My new life begins today. I haven't written in quite some time. I did as I planned. After working with Uncle Presston, I made it into Canterlot University. Recently, I graduated with a degree in Equestrian and Literature. Cascade is staying with Uncle, and Grease is still looking after Father. I know my writing career has got to start small. I'm about half a day's trot to my destination, Ponyville. I've bought out an apartment that I've repurposed into a book store. That'll be my source of income until I can get a work of mine published. I have several that have been copied one or two times that I also hope to sell. My first shipment of books should arrive two days after my arrival. It'll be tough living for a while, but I'll manage. It's only a matter of time until I can find of a publisher. The Elements of Harmony apparently live in Ponyville too. Hopefully, Ponyville is indeed the place to find my fortune._

Twilight slowly closed the book as realization donned on her. She had just read the private journal of Notes. Not only had she and her friends come into his business/living quarters, but Twilight herself had read one of the most private things a pony could have. The violet unicorn silently cursed herself. Why had her wits left her? It all made sense; Notes's anxiety, Notes's stance against drinking, everything that had once been a mystery. If Twilight was in the mood for humor, she could've said that Notes was now an "open book".

But Twilight got to thinking. If the book held most, if not all, of Notes's personal information, then perhaps it would detail where he had vanished off to. Twilight was reluctant to read anymore. She was already ashamed by how much she had already breached the privacy of the stallion. Surely though, would it really be a crime if the information led her to help the friend? It was quiet the philosophical conundrum.

Emotions and thoughts were still debating in her head when Twilight noticed something rather important: her five closest friends were crowded around her, reading over her shoulder. Not only had the purple mare violated the privacy of Notes, so had her friends.

"Hmmm, so that's why he didn't want me to read this," remarked Dash.

Fluttershy was quieter than usual. "That's an awfully sad story."

"So that's why the poor dear is such a nervous wreck whenever he talks to others," said Rarity.

Applejack moved straight to the obvious question. "Twi, why the heck were ya readin' the feller's journal ta begin with?"

"I don't know. I didn't know it was somepony's private journal, honest."

"Of course, darling; we all know that you would never take to snooping," Rarity responded.

Pinkie wasn't so comforting. "Gee, Twily; you'd think it'd be obvious that the book belonged to somepony. I mean, it was in a drawer that probably only Notes would open."

"Not now Pinkie Pie," groaned Rainbow Dash.

"So, Twilight dear, aren't you going to continue reading?" asked Rarity.

"Huh? Why on Equestria would I do that?"

"Aw come on, Twi. We don't all need ta be eggheads to figure out that that there book might be able ter tell us where Notes went," pointed out Applejack.

"But that would be a horrible violation of his privacy!"

"It could be able ta help a friend."

"Friends help friends," Fluttershy offered meekly.

Twilight blew a loose strand of mane from her eyes. She knew that AJ had the right of it. Using her magic, the unicorn flipped the pages until she came to the last entry.

**A/N: My, my, my. It certainly has been a long time. I must sincerely apologize to the loyal readers who've stuck with this story despite the snail-like pace. Summer means traveling and traveling means no computer. Anyways, this chapter is a bit longer than usual so I guess that's a bonus. I do hope the next update will take less time, but I always say that. Note's backstory is out now, so there's that too. I had the suspicion that this chapter felt a bit rushed considering all the exposition that I dealt out via the journal. Tell me what you all think. Please review if you liked it or tell me why you didn't. Until next time.**

**P.S. I'm also working on another fan fiction that will probably be up between now and the next chapter update. Look out for it!**


	12. The Stallion Was

**Simple Words**

**Chapter 12: The Stallion Was…**

Hospitals were full of contradictions in Notes's opinion. They were institutes for healing yet so many could not be saved. For every patient that left for home, another was having their funeral planned. The white corridors were so clean and sanitary, but in the rooms along them all sorts of horrible diseases and injuries were present. It was in this institute of contradictions that Notes now found himself.

It had been three days since he left. Three days since the letter. Three days of hard galloping despite the stallion's physique. Three days of dreading what awaited him at the end of his journey. Now he was here; now he was home.

Delamare was one of the smaller Equestrian provinces. It lay south of such cities as Manehattan and Fillydelphia and slightly north of Baltimare. The north of the province was mainly industrious, with many food packaging and chemical factories. Southern Delamare was more agrarian with many corn farms as well as beaches that would attract tourists from the nearby cities. To Notes, it was the place in the world.

There was no joy in his return home, however. The letter had brought ill tidings, tidings of death. Thus, Notes had come to the hospital. It was the same hospital where everything had changed for his family. It would seem that things were about to change again. Notes continued down the corridor, his hoof steps echoing in the silent hallway. At last, he came to the door that the receptionist had told to go to. Slowly, Notes pushed the door open.

Inside the room, a curtain had been drawn across the bed now occupied by Notes's father. Outside the curtain, there were two benches that were occupied by three ponies. As soon as Notes entered the room, one the ponies stood to greet him. This particular stallion was a dark shade of grey with small flecks of lighter grey on his coat. His mane and tail were a matching shade of brown. Notes's brother's brown eyes were filled with grief. Elbow Grease tried to say something but no words came out.

"How is he?" Notes asked, if only to stop Grease from injuring his jaw.

Grease let out a long sigh. The bags under his eyes were evidence to the strain he had been through. "He's been in and out of consciousness. The nurse says he'll be… gone any day now."

This wasn't the Grease remembered. The gruff, cocky stallion Notes had left years ago must've changed with everything else. This stallion was tired, defeated, and hopeless. Notes couldn't blame him. Something had been nagging at Notes all throughout his journey. "How did this even happen?"

For a moment, Notes thought his brother would break down right there. But some of the Grease that Notes knew kept him together. Taking a deep breath, Grease said, "It was late. Dad was drunk. He still had a late night shift at the factory. There was no way he was going to make it, him being drunk and all. I was going to cover for. I thought he would just sleep it off like he always does. While I was gone, he must've gone to a liquor store or something. I swear, if I ever find the pony that sold a drunken stallion more booze I'll kill-"

"Calm down. There's nothing we can do to change the past," Notes said to calm his brother. Grease always had a bit of a temper. He got it from Father. "Please continue."

"There's not much else that happened. I came home and found him passed out surrounded by empty bottles of gin. I brought him here and wrote you. The rest is history."

Notes glanced to the curtain and back to Grease. "I see." Notes's gaze not shifted to the two ponies still seated on the bench. "But why did you bring Cascade?"

"Dad is her father too."

"She never knew the real Father. The real Father died the day she was born."

"Either way, Uncle Presston wanted to come too. He couldn't just leave Cascade to fend for herself. Besides, they were brothers once."

"He was a lot of things once."

"I know you don't like any of this, neither do I. It's been hell trying to keep dad in line; between covering his shifts and keeping him away from the bar, I haven't been able to do anything. I had no friends, no family, nopony!"

Notes couldn't think of anything to say. He had been lucky; he had made friends despite losing his old ones. Grease had to devote his life to his job and the stallion who had been their father. They both stood there, Notes awkwardly quiet and Grease breathing heavily from his outburst.

Their uncle rose from the bench and murmured something to the filly beside him. Slowly he walked to his nephews. "Listen, I think you're worrying Cascade. Perhaps we should continue the conversation outside like gentlecolts." The brothers nodded and walked out the door into the eerie white hallway of thee hospital.

Notes was the first to speak. "Should we really have left Cascade in there alone, Uncle?"

"You really do need to stop worrying about her so much, Notes. She's grown since you left. Besides, the stallion's unconscious."

A question had been nagging at the back of Notes's mind when he saw his uncle and Cascade in the room. He chose now to ask it. "Uncle … does Cascade even know what's going on?"

Grease turned to Notes incredulously. "Of course she knows why we're all here. Isn't that right, Uncle?"

Looking to his uncle, Notes saw sadness in his light brown eyes. "You always were a bit too clever, Notes," he said. The writer's was exhausted, Notes saw. This ordeal had taken its toll on him, Grease, everypony. There were lines on Presston's caramel face and, despite being the younger brother, looked older than Notes's father ever had.

"How much does she know," asked Notes. "You said you'd tell her about what happened before we moved after I went to university. You promised."

Tears seemed to begin to well in his uncle's eyes but they receded. Notes's family was a line of hard working earth ponies. Hard work often hardened hearts. Despite this, Uncle Presston's voice was full of sorrow. "Of course I promised. I intended to tell her, I truly did. But she was so quiet when you left. I didn't want to sadden her even more by telling her what her had become. Did you honestly want me to tell her that her father was a drunk who drove one of his sons away, another into my keeping, and another out of school? Did you?!

"Did you also want me to tell her that the day he changed was the day your mother died, the day she was born? The filly would blame herself. She has her mother's softness." Presston sighed the dejectedly. What he said was true. Grease had been the true heir to the earth poniness in the family. He was built strong and his mind was hard and direct. Notes came out looking the earth pony, but had the temperament of his pegasus mother; Cascade had both the look and the mind.

Notes sighed. Again, he asked, "What did you tell her? Does she know why we're here?"

Regaining some of his composure, the printer replied, "All she knows is that somepony very important to us is sick."

"Sweet Celestia, Uncle …" Notes let out a breath. "Well? Any volunteers to tell her?

The two ponies in the hallway with Notes stared at him wordlessly. Presston's eyes soon found themselves looking at the tiled floor, while Grease found something interesting to watch at the end of the corridor.

Groaning, Notes confirmed the inevitable. "You expect me to do it, don't you?"

Notes's kin remained silent in the eerily white, sanitized hallway. After a lengthy silence, Presston cleared his throat and said, "We best leave you two alone. Grease has already said his greetings, and you haven't seen the filly in quite some time. Grease, would you care to join me in the food court?"

Grease's eyes were suddenly drawn back from the end of the corridor. "Uh, yeah. Sure thing, Uncle. I've been watching some of these nurses around. Quite a few nice flanks." Presston gave a half-hearted chuckle and walked away down the hall, followed by Elbow Grease. Before they left, Notes looked at the clock, noting it was nowhere near lunch time.

Cascade immediately started buzzing about on her tiny wings as soon as Notes walked back through the door. Her voice was the way many young fillies' were, bright, cheerful, and blissfully ignorant.

"Big Brother!" she cried happily bowling the gray stallion over in her excitement. "It's so, so, so good to see you!"

Notes managed a smile, despite the circumstances. His sister had the infectious smile of her mother. Still Notes gently chastised her. "Quiet down a bit, please Cassy. We don't want to wake up the stallion in here with us."

Slightly crestfallen, Cascade brought her dark blue feathered wings to a halt and floated lightly to the ground, allowing Notes to stand. A looked of confusion settled onto her bright green eyes. "Big Brother, who is the stallion over there?"

"He's… w-well he's a very important family friend. He loved our family very much."

Now a somber voice replaced Cascade's usually cheerful one. "Notes, is he going to die?"

Tears were starting to form in Notes's eyes and the grief and sadness that possessed the others was beginning to take hold of him. But he wouldn't let it show, not in front of Cassy. "Y-yes, he probably is… passing away."

"Did I ever meet him? Even if I was just a foal and couldn't remember?"

"Yeah, h-he knew you very well. You probably d-don't remember him, though. You were r-real young."

"You're voice sounds kind of funny, Big Brother. What's wrong?"

Notes took a breath to steady himself internally and externally. "It's just how s-some ponies get when they're sad. Y-you get a bit choked up."

Cascade looked at Notes with big eyes; there was an almost innocent, child-like profoundness in the green globes. "We must have loved him very much, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah we did."

The curtain inside the room quivered and Grease withdrew from behind it. He looked destroyed. His eyes never left the ground as he slowly made his way to the bench and plopped down heavily onto it. Beneath his eyes were rivulets where tears had matted down his coarse coat. Though he tried to grieve silently, his racking sobs were clearly audible.

Also on the bench, Presston was weeping gently whilst holding Cassy protectively under one of his forelegs. The filly was obviously uncomfortable but she had the sense not to interrupt her uncle's grieving.

After a lengthy fit of crying, Grease was able to choke out, "Notes, he's ready to see you."

Notes stepped forward tentatively. The curtain was right in front of him. Before pulling back the curtain and entering, the write steadied his breathing and straightened his back. He told himself mentally that he would not cry, not in front of his dying father, not in front of Cassy.

Reaching out, the grey stallion brushed the curtain gently aside with a foreleg and entered his father's presence. At first, Notes was confused. There was no possible way that the pony before him was his father. The dark brown coat that his father had possessed was now greying and the individual hairs seemed brittle. Under the coat, large muscles once bulged, even after his wife's death. Notes's father had the look of a pony on the brink of death.

For a while, Notes just stood there too afraid to say anything. His father looked to be sleeping. Then, the eyelids lifted slightly and the emerald eyes that could only of been Notes's father were fixed on the young stallion.

"Hello, son."

Gulping Notes replied, "H-hi, Father."

From the way he was speaking, one could never have guessed that Notes's father was on his deathbed. "I'm dying ,Notes."

"I-I know."

The ill stallion gave a tiny chuckle. "It's that obvious, huh?" He looked at the medical equipment around him. "Well it's a bout bleeding time I died."

Notes looked at his dad, shocked. "W-what do you mean?"

The eyes that looked back were full of guilt and remorse. "You know why."

"This r-really isn't something to we need to discuss when you're about to –" Notes started but fell silent.

His father picked up where he left off. "Die? My boy, I do not believe there is a better time to talk about my shortcomings as a father."

"So you want to apologize? After all that's happened?" Notes tried to keep his voice steady and devoid of emotion.

"Yes, yes indeed. I was a rather lousy dad, wasn't I?"

Again, Notes's voice lacked any sort of tone. "Only after Mother died."

Notes's father turned in his bed so that his face was no longer facing his son's. Even though Notes couldn't see his eyes, he could hear his father's light sniveling. "I really loved that mare," he said at last with a sigh. Now he turned back to face Notes. "So much in fact, that I ruined our children's lives because I couldn't imagine anypony else living in a world without her.

"I don't suppose you've ever drank, have you Notes?" The dying stallion continued, "Not since you saw what it did to me. There was just something about the alcohol. It makes your mind buzz and go blank. It made it so you didn't have to think; you didn't have to care or feel. It made you forget. But then it would wear off, and the memories would come back. You'd drink again, just hoping to forget for good. The think was that you'd need more and more to forget each time." He grimaced. "I guessed this time it took too much to forget."

Notes honestly didn't know what to say to that. He remained silent.

Father was sobbing now. "I'm sorry Notes. I'm sorry for not supporting your writing. I'm sorry for making Grease look after me after all these years. I'm sorry that Cascade will never know her father. Most of all, I'm sorry about Drama. Sweet Celestia, I drove my son, my own flesh and blood away. Have you heard from him? Did you ever find him?"

Out of love, Notes lied, "Yes, Father. He's living in Manehattan now. Drama is a real big shot now. He'll be starring in a new musical on Bridleway this fall."

"Why isn't he here?"

Without hesitation Notes continued his lie for his father's sake, "He, uh, still hasn't really gotten over what happened that night, you know?"

The older stallion nodded to himself. Notes wasn't sure his father truly believed his tale or whether he was forcing himself to believe it. "Yeah, I wouldn't blame him," Notes's father said. "It's good to hear he made it, though. He was always such a good kid."

"Yeah, he was," agreed Notes.

Notes's father was sobbing now. "All I've been able to think is what your mother would think of me. She probably hates me after what I did. Notes, could you ever forgive me for being such a sack-of-shit father?"

"Yes, and I'm sure Mother would too," was Notes's answer.

The voice of Note's father was growing quieter. "Do you really think so, son?"

Notes nodded. "I know so."

"That's good." Notes's father's last words were faint and distant as he died.

Immediately, the body that had once belonged to Notes's father went strangely still. His emerald eyes were closed and the rhythmic rising and falling of his chest had ceased. He was dead.

At first Notes was shocked beyond reaction. His father was dead. His life functions had ceased. He would never wake again.

The promise Notes had made to himself earlier vanished along with his father's life. Tears came running down his cheeks, soaking his fur and forming many rivulets. The sobs came next, huge, wracking sobs that would have caused pain or discomfort of Notes had been overcome with grief.

Still sobbing, Notes stumbled back to where what remained of his family waited, nearly bringing the curtain with him in his incautious gait.

Upon entering, the three ponies looked at Notes's face and all was immediately understood. Presston's eyes widened and his previous weeping became the same sobs that consumed his nephew. Grease, seemingly caught in a confusion of whether to feel grief or anger, raised a foreleg to strike a wall. The blow that landed however was puny and weak. Sorrow had sapped the very strength of Notes's brother. Amidst the inner turmoil and emotional chaos, Cascade stood confused.

Clearly taking a nervous gulp, the filly stepped up to her brother. "Notes? Who was that stallion? Who was he really?"

Between the cries and the sobs Notes was able to manage, "He was a great stallion. The stallion was a true pony."

**Important, I guess? This Author's Notes will answer a few questions that came up in the reviews thus far. Mainly, questions regarding the plot will be addressed. So, I don't know, read it if you want, I guess. **

**A/N: Another long wait. This is getting way too frequent. This time I suppose I'll blame academics. Sorry, but that sort of stuff comes first. As always, thanks to those for sticking around despite the wonky schedule. Now, time to address several reviews. Love in Equestria (a reviewer) seemed to think that Notes's degree in Equestrian and Literature was a grammatical error, presumably thinking Equestrian was meant as an adjective. In this case, I used Equestrian as a noun for the language that the characters speak sort of how a student might earn an English and Literature degree. To be honest, I'm not an English major so I have no idea if English and Literature is an actual degree. I hope y'all will let it slide. Lastly, a response to reviewer genralc46. Their review questioned the time period of the story, it being the 1300s in Equestria time. I guess I should have explained this better. The first three hundred or so years is the reign of the two sisters (Celestia and Luna of course) while the other 1000 is the 1000-year period Luna was imprisoned on the moon. To be clear, the year in Equestria has no correlation to human history. Everything in the story is meant to happen in the same time period as on the show. Well, that's about it. I hope the responses helped clear up a few things didn't explain very well. Thank you very much for reading. Reviews are always appreciated. Until next time.**


	13. Decisions

Simple Words

Chapter 13: Decisions

The weather seemed to be against Notes. He had expected, foolishly, that nature would reflect his grief and subsequently be filled with cloudy skies and rainy days. It had been anything but since Notes had left Delamare on his way back to Ponyville. Birds were chirping merrily and all around him the weather was typical of midsummer. Notes felt that he should be upset that the rest of the world should go on as if nothing had happened while he and his family grieved, but he was beyond such childish notions. Still, the loss of his father throbbed like an open wound in Notes's heart. Why he felt such sorrow confounded Notes. For a long time Notes had thought he hated his father, but now… the stallion simply didn't know.

As he reached the top of a ridge, Notes could see Ponyville in all its peaceful tranquility. Again, the writer felt a strange a mixture of emotions. It pained him to leave home, but Notes still welcomed the sight of the small village. There was some kind of calming air to Ponyville, a sense of harmony.

Before long, the grey stallion found himself on the outskirts of Mane Street near his humble little shop. It looked unchanged; the siding needed painting, the roof needed repair, and books needed selling. Notes sighed under the weight of it all. He had found out soon after buying the establishment why it had been so cheap. Trying not to dwell on financial issues, Notes stooped over and got the spare key he kept under the welcome mat so that he could get inside.

Turning the key, Notes entered his home and work place. Everything looked in the store seemed untouched; already a thin layer of dust was settling over the shelves. Notes sighed as he added another task to his mental to-do list. All was normal until the stallion noticed that he was not alone in his establishment. Staring form behind the counter were the unmistakable blue eyes of a familiar pegasus.

Upon making eye contact, Fluttershy immediately let out one of her signature "eeps" and ducked down behind the counter. Notes, equally surprised, dropped his saddle bag and dove behind the nearest book shelf.

Besides shock, all Notes felt was confusion. He had of course requested that Fluttershy look after Flame in his absence, but how the mare had gotten in was a mystery to him. The spare key had still been under the mat, and the only other one he had was in the counter. Why in Equestria Twilight would have given Fluttershy that key was beyond him. The writer had stated clearly on the back of his note that there was an extra key under the mat.

A meek voice interrupted his train of thought. "Oh, um, h-hello Notes."

Trying his best to calm himself, Notes replied, "Uh, well, g-good afternoon."

It suddenly struck Notes how rude he must seem, cowering behind a bookshelf while he had company over. Granted, Fluttershy was unexpected company, but she was a mare Notes was always glad to be around.

Brushing himself off, Notes came out from behind his shelter. After a brief inspection of its contents, he threw his saddlebag once more over his back as he went to greet his guest.

"U-um, good afternoon Miss Fluttershy," Notes said as he came out from behind his hiding place.

Soon after his greeting, the tip of a pink mane could be seen peeking over the counter. A pair of large turquoise eyes followed. "Oh, uh, good afternoon to you too Notes. It's, um, okay to just call me Fluttershy, if you want to I mean."

"O-okay then, Fluttershy," replied Notes awkwardly. The whole situation was quickly becoming awkward and comfortable. "So, h-how is Flame?"

Fluttershy immediately jumped upright at the mention of an animal. "Yes, Flame! The little darling is doing fine. Some days he didn't seem to want to eat, so I started to feed him some herbs that were meant to make him hungrier, I hope that's okay. They seemed to work, um, most of the time."

"T-thank you very much; I'll have to start buying some of those herbs. N-now, I understand I've been out of t-town for a while and I d-didn't have much cat food left. How much do I owe you?"

Fluttershy's eyes widened as she raised her voice in protest, "No, please, it's, um, no charge. I have plenty of food at my cottage."

"I-I must insist. I'm not one for charity, a-and not paying you would be ungrateful," Notes argued back.

Then the quiet mare did something that Notes couldn't quite explain. Fluttershy suddenly stood up completely straight. Her pupils began to contract as if in deep focus. For some unknown reason, Notes found it impossible to look away from the pegasus's eyes. That was when she began to speak.

The voice was definitely Fluttershy's but it was different; it was sterner and seemed to keep Notes from thinking straight. "No! You will accept the cat food and that is final!" There was something about the mare's voice that made Notes physically incapable of arguing further.

After straining to get his thoughts back together, Notes finally conceded. "F-fine, I'll consider the food as a gift. But don't think I won't let your taking care of Flame go unrewarded. You'll get your payment for that."

Whatever had come over Fluttershy seemed to vanish instantly, leaving the mare looking exhausted. When she had caught her breath she managed to reply, "Fine, if that will, um, make you happy."

With the all-important matter of the cat food taken care of, the two ponies were left in an uncomfortable silence. Notes reached behind to scratch the back of his head while Fluttershy looked around absently never making direct eye contact with the stallion.

At last, Notes said, "U-um, could I interest you in some coffee? O-or perhaps tea, if you prefer?"

"I'd, um, love to really, but I have to be going. Sorry," said Fluttershy as she made her way to the door.

Notes turned towards the door to see her off. "Well, o-okay then, have a nice day."

"You too," Fluttershy responded, "And I hope your father is okay."

Were it physically possible, the writer's jaw may have dropped to the floor. "H-h-how did you know about t-that?!" he sputtered out.

If Notes was shocked, Fluttershy was absolutely stunned. Her eyes were opened wide and her mouth appeared to be frozen in an inaudible gasp. All the mare was able to manage was, "T-there was … journal … looking for a key … Twilight read some … found letter."

Flabbergasted, Notes could only gape at the situation. "Why in Celestia's name was she looking for a key?! It was written clearly on the back of my note that there was a spare key under the welcome mat!"

Fluttershy averted her eyes, not quite sure what to say. "W-well, I, um, suppose she didn't think to, uh, read the back of the note." Her voice was quiet and cautious, anything to avoid further agitating the stallion.

Meanwhile, Notes was showing a side of himself that rarely broke through his quiet, nervous exterior. It was as if all the stress and frustration of the past few days were being released all at once. Unfortunately, the one pony caught in the crossfire happened to be Fluttershy. "She didn't think to flip the note over and read the back?! Twilight Sparkle, the personal student of _Princess Celestia_, couldn't think of flipping a piece of paper over!"

After several deep breaths, Notes seemed to calm down. When he spoke, his voice was level, but it was clear that he hadn't returned to his usual temperament. "Who else read the journal?" he asked.

The pegasus's only response was silence.

Now Notes's normal attitude returned. His words regained their usual tone and nervous stutter. "Y-you didn't read any, d-did y-you?"

"All six of us were, um, there. W-we were, um, under the impression that your journal was, um, a novel," responded Fluttershy, almost too quiet for the stallion to hear.

Two blue eyes found themselves staring at the floor, while two turquoise ones sought solace behind a pink mane. In the silence Notes muttered, "I see."

Unable endure the situation further, Fluttershy piped up. "Perhaps I should, um, leave."

"Y-yes perhaps that'd b-be best," Notes agreed. "I have a l-lot to think about."

Fluttershy raised her head, her eyes in full view to Notes. Tears were clearly welling up in each of the cyan pools. "I'm sorry," the mare choked out before dashing out of the store, the sound her attempt to stifle her tears trailing behind her.

Notes lifted his foreleg and opened his mouth to say something, but it was too late; Fluttershy was gone. _Brilliant job, dumbass._

By nighttime, Notes felt even worse than he had earlier. With his anger and surprise gone, Notes reflected on what a horrible jerk he must have seemed. Not only had he reacted in a way that was entirely rude, but he had lashed out against the mare he had romantic feelings for. The whole situation mad Notes want to facehoof.

Abandoning thoughts of the day's earlier fiasco, Notes unpacked his things. Once all the items had been sorted neatly into their proper place, the writer was left with two outliers, but gifts from his family.

One was a small slip of paper, the other a tall bottle with a blood red liquid contained inside.

The paper was a parting gift from Grease. On it were a name, a place, and a telephone number. The name was Grease's boss, Mass Production. The place was the factory where Grease worked. The telephone number was seven digits plus the area code, just like any other phone number. During their brief time together, Grease had picked up that Notes's business, and his writing, weren't exactly overwhelmingly successful. Thus, Notes had received the business card. According to his brother, Grease could secure Notes a job at the factory. It had a steady and reasonable pay, was easy work, and the staff appeared to be like family. Of course, accepting the new occupation would mean moving back to Delamare, not to mention giving up his dream.

The bottler contained wine. Oblivious to his policy regarding alcohol, Uncle Presston had bestowed upon Notes a bottle of wine that could only be found in every liquor store in Equestria. While extremely reluctant to accept such a gift, Notes hadn't wanted to appear rude. Even now, the bottle was slightly inviting. The day had been stressful and, apparently, nothing soothed the nerves like some good, old-fashioned booze. However, Notes was reminded of his father and the words that he had said on his deathbed. _I'm different than him. I'll only take a sip_. Gingerly, Note grasped the cork in his mouth and yanked it off in one go.

An intoxicating scent drifted from the open bottle. To Notes, it smelled exactly what he'd expect a mixture of grape juice and rubbing alcohol to smell like. His beverage opened, Notes walked to the business card. After a long while considering the bottle and the card, Notes made a decision.

Inside Notes's store was an empty bottle. Inside his trash can were the shreds of paper that had once been a business card. Outside his store was an odd patch of grass that appeared almost purple or red and smelled of grapes and alcohol.

**A/N: Good evening once again dear readers. The night that this is uploaded marks this story's one year anniversary. Thank so much for the criticism and for sticking with the story thus far. I know it must suck having to cope with my short chapters and long waits. Also, happy belated Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas! Gosh, it's been quite a while since I last uploaded. I know I must sound like a broken record, but sorry for the procrastination. Anyways, enjoy the chapter and offer a review if you'd like. Happy New Year! Until next time. **

**P.S. If you don't get the ending, I'm sincerely sorry. Basically, Notes throws away the business card and empties out the wine on the grass outside.**


End file.
